


A Rod of Iron to Smash the Nations

by tronzler



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Background Chirrut/Baze - Freeform, Imperial AU, Multi, krennic/galen one-sided, reverse au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2018-09-21 12:36:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 84,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9549257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tronzler/pseuds/tronzler
Summary: She ran into him, latching her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.  For Krennic’s part, he wrapped his arms around her, looking warm and soft as an uncle.  As he looked up at Galen, however, a smile started to play at his lips.  He was going to make her belong to him.  “We’ll play Hero of the Empire again soon,” he said, perhaps to both of them.  “That will be you one day, Jyn, I know it.”Galen didn’t smile back.  That was his daughter; his responsibility to raise and teach.  Now Krennic was marking her future as his, already beginning to add his fingerprints to her developing mind, and daring Galen to challenge him.  And Galen—he was afraid to lose.--Raised in the Empire, Jyn learns the importance of being able to question and what happens when she asks.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ibonekoen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibonekoen/gifts).



> Just a typical Imperial AU. This is mostly ibonekoen's fault. I claim no responsibility for what follows.

"Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance,  
the ends of the earth your possession.  
You will break them with a rod of iron;  
you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

-Psalm 2:8-9

 

Chapter 1

 

"Ah, there's my favorite girl!"  Krennic held his arms out in a gesture of pride and welcoming.  "Back from traversing the galaxy."

Jyn couldn't help but smile at the way that Krennic's face lit up as she walked down from the boarding ramp of the shuttle.  There was nothing like coming home to a welcome face and Krennic had been nothing but welcoming to her ever.  She walked toward his waiting arms and he planted his hands on her arms, kissing both of her cheeks.  As far as signs of affection went, embracing was still reserved for her father, but Krennic was more than allowed to shower her with all of the affections of being her uncle. 

"I was hardly gone a moment," Jyn replied.  “It was only a few days.  I can't believe you missed me that badly."

Krennic brushed off the comment, looping her arm to escort her further inside from the landing pad.  "My dear, it was as if the sun would never shine again."

"If you're buttering me up, you want something."

That made him laugh, but the sound of it made her smile as well.  "Couldn't it be possible that I just wanted to see my favorite niece again?"

"Well, if that's what you're going with, Director, I'll accept it."  She knew she was his favorite.  She knew it in the way that she could talk back to him without being on the receiving end of a glare to end the world, or accompanied with a slap of 'silence!'.  And if she was, why not milk it for all it was worth.  It had gotten her this far.

Krennic, for his part, did seem as if the lights of the stars shined down on him when she was there, second only to the pleasant glow he had around her father Galen.  "That is certainly my intention, but I know someone else who will be glad to see you."

He paused at the door into the facility on Coruscant, letting go of her arm as he prepared to leave her.  She hadn't failed to notice the small compliment of dark-armored Death Troopers lingering back a few steps as to not smoother them.  So, he was going somewhere, was he?

He nodded his head toward the hallway.  "You should go see your father.  He's been very busy with his work and he'll be more than happy to see you."

Galen.  Of course he would.  Krennic swore that Galen worked better when Jyn was around.  Or perhaps he worked better with the motivation that she was away and she'd soon be back.  Jyn wasn't entirely convinced that Krennic didn't send her away in part just to make Galen work harder--at least she wouldn't put it past him to try.

“I take it that means you won’t be joining us?” she asked.

Krennic offered a sympathetic smile.  Ever the doting uncle.  Not that she didn’t soak up his attention, flourishing into a beautiful Imperial flower.  “Sadly, no.  I have other matters to take care of, but when I come back you can tell me all about your trip and everything you’ve accomplished.”

“I do have some things you’ll certainly want to know,” she baited him.

He returned, catching the bait and latching on with a show of praise.  “And this is why you’re my favorite niece.  You always deliver, Captain Erso.”

Accented with another kiss to her cheek, even breaking from the military decorum of using her rank, Krennic turned to leave her at the door.  His demeanor instantly changed as he faced his personal guard, motioning to them to follow with a flick on his wrist and a sharp order. “You: on me.”  The black troopers turned obediently, falling into line on Krennic’s flank and only one sparing a glance ay Jyn that only lasted a second before he fell in with the rest of his comrades.

The Death Troopers were even more intimidating with their stark black armor, but Jyn had grown up around their kind.  They didn’t scare her no more than Krennic did, though part of her told herself that maybe that wasn’t the way it should be.  Maybe she should fear them.

She watched him leave before she walked inside the base.  Inside, it was only two short hallways before she came upon her father.  His warmth felt more genuine at times than Krennic’s affections as Galen broke away from his work to draw her into his arms.  That was the way that it should be, shouldn’t it?  Galen was her father after all.  However, Krennic had done so much for them…

Galen held her tightly and she wrapped her arms around his back in turn.  “My stardust,” he said.  “I’m so glad you’re home.”

Jyn closed her eyes.  Home.  Yes, this was home, right here in his arms.  “Me too, Papa.”

 

\--

 

Once, the Kyber Temple had been the light of the city.  The days when the markets were full of noise, music and people—when pilgrims came to traverse the pillared hallways of the temple and have the blessings of the Guardians of the Whills bestowed upon them. And then the Jedi…

Those were only stories anymore though. All Bodhi had ever seen was what was in front of him, colored by the occupation of the Empire. The markets remained, but they lacked color with the white of the stormtroopers everywhere.  Travelers were few and far between with Imperial travel restrictions. Jedha had long been in the eye of the Empire due to its strong connection to the Jedi, but the day that the Star Destroyer descended over the Holy City was the day that it became a true war zone. 

Bodhi was a citizen of Jedha, he didn't have anything to be afraid of--he belonged here.  He could blend in and not look suspicious because he'd been doing it for years as a nobody, except that when he wanted to blend in, he felt like he stood out even more. It didn’t help that of all of the places in Jedha City’s maze of streets, his contact wanted to meet in front of the temple steps, among the crowds of people and the exiled Guardians, calling out their stories and warnings to the passers-by and anyone who would listen.

It showed how far everything had fallen that the Guardians were cast out on the broken steps of the temple, some of them begging, others calling for action and likely soon to be arrested.  The temple itself was little more than a ruined shell, with the pillars crumbled and toppled over, and the walls cracked or gone entirely.  The Empire went out of its way to destroy the legacy of the Jedi Order.

Another patrol of stormtroopers walked by him and Bodhi shoved his hands down deep into his pockets, shuffling along the ground.  His contact had better hurry up--

"Hey, you!  Stand down!  Stay right there!"

Bodhi froze.  That was it.  He'd been in one place for too long.  They'd found him.  He was afraid to turn around, that his heart would pound straight out of his chest.  But as he did, the blaster wasn't aimed at him; it was the Guardians instead.  It did nothing to calm his nerves.

He didn’t see what started it, but he saw how it would end—one of the Guardians stood facing down a squad of four stormtroopers and likely more on the way, standing with his hands held open and out. It did nothing to deter the troopers who continued yelling back at the man. Bodhi started to sink back into the crowd but the Guardian.. he just couldn’t let that man stand out there by himself. He had to do the blasted right thing, didn’t he?

“Wait! He’s not doing you any harm!” Bodhi called out, mimicking the opened-palm gesture that he was unarmed as he pushed closer, trying to block the troopers from getting any closer.

It succeeded in drawing their attention like a pack of dogs on a snap of meat, landing at least two of the blaster rifles pointed at him now instead of the long-haired Guardian. “Stay out of this! Stand down!”

What were they waiting for, back-up? They should have been arrested by now. Not that Bodhi wanted to be arrested and miss his meeting, but he was counting on worming his way out as he usually did since he did nothing wrong. Neither had his new friend.

“You have violated our temple, can you not let us pass in peace?” the Guardian demanded.

“Last time—Stand. Down.” Must have been the squad leader, who moved forward toward the Guardian, the other two still trained on Bodhi.

Suddenly the Guardian stiffened as if drawing in not just a breath, but energy from around him. For a second, Bodhi thought maybe he wasn’t as helpless as he seemed. “I do not fear. I am one with the Force; the Force is with me,” the man said. No sooner had he finished speaking than he grabbed the squad leader’s blaster, ripping it out of his hands and smashing him in the helmet. It was enough to stun him, allowing the monk to wrap his arm around the trooper’s neck and twist him around, pulling him against his body as a shield, absorbing the bolts from the other stormtroopers who erupted into a chaos of shouting and shooting. In one shots, two shots, two more dropped down, and then an explosion from a much more high-powered weapon rocketed the third into the air and back down onto the ground in a heap.

Bodhi barely had a chance to duck and cover his head before it was over. The Guardian dropped the trooper with a sigh, looking at the blast mark on the ground with almost disdain. “All of this was under control,” he commented. 

Swallowing hard, Bodhi lifted his head, looking at the monk in confusion—was he talking to him? Sure, he could have helped fight but, as it happened, the monk really did have it under control. “..What?”

The Guardian looked back at him calmly and then tilted his head behind him to his intended recipient; a blind man crouched on a fallen temple pillar with a light bow aimed in their direction. A blind man just took out a stormtrooper. “I almost thought you were going to let them take you with how long you were taking,” the blind man said.

“Who—.. who are you?” Bodhi asked, lowering his arms.

Bowing his head, the Guardian turned to face Bodhi fully. “Your first test. You wished to see Saw Gerrera." 

His eyes widened and Bodhi held up a finger. “No-.. I mean yes. Yes I do, but Saw called for _me_ , not-..” From behind, his world suddenly went dark as someone shoved a hood over his face. To his credit, Bodhi didn’t fight them. Nor did he panic, even though he wanted to. “Not the other way around..”

Whoever his captors were, started to usher him through to somewhere else, and as he was pushed and pulled away, the voice of the blind man filtered through one more time, teasing the monk about something. The monk only hummed in return. What had Bodhi gotten himself into now?

 

\--

 

"Will you tell me what you're working on?"

Galen sighed, shifting the weight of Krennic's expectations, but then he smiled for her.  Perhaps he wanted to tell her everything.  She wanted to believe that her father had always been truthful with her but that wasn't how they survived.  Krennic would step on anyone to get ahead and he was the example where Galen was not.  "Would you tell me where he sent you?"

A silly question met with another silly question.  She smiled in return.  "You know I can't, Papa."

"Then that is my answer too," he replied.  Galen rubbed his hand up her back fondly.  "What I can tell you, however, is that what we are working on is going to change the galaxy."

Leaving her side, he moved to the holotable, calling up diagrams and filtering through them with his hand, tossing one aside to pull up another.  It was nothing classified but it was complicated.  More than her training covered.  "We've made great strides already in energy use and reactor output production," Galen continued.  "The Director may have his plans, but I do feel proud of what we're accomplishing."

Maybe he felt more free to talk with her because she was his daughter but the comment took Jyn a little by surprise. It was bold to say out in the open.  "You don't agree with his vision?"

"Of course I do," Galen agreed.  "Peace.  That is what this is, isn't it?  We're bringing peace."

"By order," Jyn added. “The galaxy, the Senate.. it’s all chaos. Peace will come, sure.” She reached to spin one of the diagrams around.

All the time, Galen watched her. He reached for a holopad, but he was still watching, and listening. Galen was nothing if not an engineer and scientist, which sometimes meant examining how people worked as well. “That is the answer expected of you, but what do you think, Jyn?" 

What did she think? Of course she wasn’t a stormtrooper—she was capable of independent thought. Perhaps her scope had never been that wide, thinking about the whole expanse of the Empire. It was far too easy to get caught up in her world, with her father and the corner of Imperial production run by Krennic and secrets enforced by Captain Jyn Erso.

“I think the fighting hurts everybody.  The more they resist, the more people are going to get hurt.”  She looked at her father across the holotable, ignoring the plans and prototypes and future scientific breakthroughs but focusing on him instead.  Her father.  He wasn’t the Imperial Senate, nor the Rebellion, nor the known systems, but he might as well be the universe.  “Krennic thinks he can change the outcome of the galaxy.  Aspiring to do something like that is good, but the rest of us just want to survive.  One person changing the fate of everybody, things like that just don't happen.  What we need is an understanding.  We haven't suffered under the Empire, if only they could understand that, we might get somewhere.”

“Understanding,” Galen echoed. “This is a good start. If that is what we hope to achieve then I do not think that the Director will succeed.”

 

\--

 

It was midday when Krennic sent for her.  The only signal that she was being summoned was the appearance of one of the black-armored Death Troopers standing watching her.  As she walked the hallways to reach Krennic's Eadu workspace, the trooper walked with her, a little behind and to the left.  Jyn was the officer and the trooper was just her escort, and she felt in charge.

Krennic wasn't on Eadu very often anymore--too busy with whatever pet project he had been working on.  Changing the fate of the galaxy, he said.  He told her she would be part of it.  They would be keeping people safe; they would be providing peace.

The systems without the hand of the rebels seemed peaceful enough, she thought, as long as they didn't look to the dirty work of the Empire.  But they all had to get their hands dirty, right?  Even her father.

As she entered Krennic's space, her escort broke away, standing outside the door.  Obviously Jyn was trusted enough to see Krennic alone.

In fact, once the door closed, his demeanor changed.  He had been standing so rigidly in front of the large viewport, overlooking the rainy depot, but her presence made him soften.  He even smiled as he turned to face her, but she thought it was a reluctant one.

"My darling, I'm afraid I have bad news.  You know how much I hate sending you away when I know you've just gotten back."

So that was what it was--another mission.  She could feel the rising tension as she went out in the systems but it was growing within the Empire too.  She could see it in the lines on his face and the way that her father stooped his shoulders constantly.  Or the way that Governor Tarkin had held her hand and examined her as if she was being presented as a pet when they first met.

Jyn didn't hesitate with her smile in return though.  She would take another assignment without question--Krennic trusted her with that and she wanted to uphold his trust.  "It's been a few days.  I can stand going out." 

"Good."  He walked closer to her, clasping his hands behind his cape and sweeping it behind his back.  "It's a careful matter, but I know you and you'll have it done in no time." 

His hesitation said a lot.  A careful matter indeed; maybe even a reputation hurting one.  "Seems that one of our cargo pilots... well, I could see a lot of creative words to try to gloss over it but fact of the matter is, he's a traitor.  Passed along something to known sympathizers, that kind of deal.  We've heard it all before."

"You want me to take care of it," Jyn added.  Traitors hurt them all and gained nothing for it.  She could never imagine turning against Krennic after all he'd done for them. 

Krennic nodded in return.  "Find him.  Find out who he talked to.  Take care of the problem."

“I’ll get it done,” she said. There was no hesitation, no time to think about it. Of course she’d get it done. She wouldn’t like it—the didn’t enjoy that kind of work—but it was necessary. It was necessary sometimes to kill for peace.

“That’s my girl.”

As he smiled and kissed her cheek fondly, maybe, she thought, it wasn’t necessary just for peace. Maybe there were other motivating factors working with his warmness and praise.  She smiled as well, dropping her gaze as he started to move back toward the window, soaking up the attention and holding onto it for later.

"Is that everything?" she asked, about to turn for the door.

"Oh."  Krennic paused, looking back at her one more time. "Take one of the TXs.  Kafrene is a rough place."

The glow of attention started to slip.  She could move a lot faster on her own, though she was used to working with the TXs--Krennic's Death Troopers--by now in her career.  "I can handle this myself, Director," she replied, folding her arms.

The flash of disapproval was momentary on his face but she saw it.  She knew how to look for it.  "I know you can, but you're taking one anyway, or I'll assign you one."

"Fine."  She made sure he heard the bite in her tone, but she could endure it.  "I'm taking 7221."

Krennic made a soft dismissive gesture with one hand as he walked back toward his window.  "One trooper is the same as the next.  I shouldn't be here when you get back."  He offered her one last look.  "Be careful, Jyn."

Her escort was still waiting as she stepped outside, standing next to the door and awaiting orders, presumably from Krennic this time.  Instead, her eyes were drawn to TX-7221 who was already waiting for her, standing in front of the door at attention. 

They had worked together before, she knew 7221 and he knew her techniques.  Maybe sometimes if she fought against taking a TX, she could be paired with him more often.  If she seemed too eager, maybe Krennic would be suspicious. 

She smiled at him a little, but then turned back to business.  "Let's go.  Bring your droid."

 

\--

 

Bodhi sighed.  “Why am I here?”

“You are worthy.”

He honestly hadn’t been expecting an answer, but the fact that the monk seemed to still be there with him might be a good sign.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t much of an answer.

“No, why am I still here with this bag over my head?” Bodhi asked.

There was a long pause.  He heard movement outside of the blackness of the hood.

“You have not proven yourself worthy.”

Bodhi scoffed.  For sitting on the ground after what felt like hours, even if it probably wasn’t, with a bag over his head, he thought he should be pretty worthy by now.  He didn’t even know where he was anymore, they had taken him so far out of the city.  He thought.

 “Worthy.. I don’t-.. you know, you’re the ones who called me, erm, us.  If this is how Saw Gerrera treats his friends…”  Or the Alliance anyway, who weren’t true friends according to anyone he really talked to anymore.  Saw had made his division with the Alliance known.

That was why it had been so surprising when Gerrera did contact the Rebels again, and why the Alliance jumped at the opportunity so quickly.  You're from Jedha, they told Bodhi, go meet with Gerrera and see what he wants. No, there was actually a lot more to it than that and he knew it.

The monk had quieted down, or they’d left Bodhi alone again, if he was ever really alone in the first place. He cleared his throat, trying to see if that created any movement, but there was still nothing. He might as well be alone in the dark, in a strange place, not knowing what would happen next. Bodhi closed his eyes, even underneath the hood. He needed to calm down; he needed to focus again.

He gathered up his thoughts and spoke to the darkness. “Are you still-.. well, do you have a name? Of course you do, but what is it?”

Someone made a soft sound and he assumed it was still the Guardian—a quiet hum of amusement. “Baze Malbus.”

Baze Malbus. Was that his name? He could finally have a name to match to the first person to get him involved in all of this, save the Rebellion itself. “Bodhi,” he replied. “Bodhi Rook.”

Baze hummed again and Bodhi wanted to ask more, but the words tumbled out of his mouth at once. “You work for him, for Saw. Is that was this is? I need to see him as soon as possible—all of this, it’s very important.”

Something slammed into a hard surface next to his head and Bodhi jumped, immediately silencing. “Lies! Deception!” came from a new voice.

“N-n-no, I don’t understand, I just need to see Saw Gerrera!” Bodhi insisted.

"Saw Gerrera is a _myth_!" the voice shouted at him. 

Bodhi flinched again.  They were going to kill him.  Or send him back with nothing, which might be worse.  He breathed in, drawing up some courage, and tried again.  "He sent for me; Saw Gerrera sent for us because he has information that we need.  We're all in danger; the Empire-.."

Suddenly the bag was ripped off of his head and light flooded in painfully after so long in the dark.  The figures in front of him came more into focus and the image wasn't any easier.  He'd come face to face with Saw Gerrera--at least the man who looked intense and possibly insane enough to be Gerrera.

He asked himself for the millionth time how he got involved in this. He got involved in this because it had been the right thing to do—from joining the Rebellion off of the Imperial occupation of Jedha to standing up to the stormtroopers threatening a Guardian of the Whills for no reason at all.

“Yes, the Empire,” Gerrera said, slamming his walking staff into the ground for emphasis. “They are around us, always. And that is why we are so important.”

The Guardian, Baze, reached down and pulled Bodhi to his feet in time for Gerrera to turn and begin to stomp further into the facility with his metal feet. “Come, come with us, Rebel. It is time to prove yourself.”

 

\--

 

Gerrera shoved a blaster pistol in Bodhi’s hand. “As I told you, the Empire is everywhere, even among us.”

Evidently they weren’t so concerned about Bodhi turning on them now, or he wouldn’t be armed. But Bodhi himself was much more concerned with the hooded figure kneeling on the floor in front of him. Had this been what was going when he was still blind under the hood? He hadn’t heard anything but that didn’t mean it wasn’t going on elsewhere.

“We caught him spying. He was one of us,” Gerrera said. “That is punishable by death. Prove your value and kill him.”

“I’m.. I’m not a soldier, I’m just a pilot,” Bodhi protested. He stared down at the figure like he was looking at himself from just a a few minutes ago. How could he possibly be expected to kill one of Saw’s soldiers, traitor or not. How did this even fall to him. He looked around, as if there might be someone to help him. Baze Malbus, the Guardian, was there, leaning against the wall to one side and watching calmly. Surely a Guardian would object to life being taken like that, right?

Gerrera’s patience wouldn’t last forever. He motioned around the room, to everyone standing and watching Bodhi’s next moves. “We are _all_ soldiers. We must be.”

“You don’t understand, I don’t _do_ this. I was only sent because I’m from Jedha; I’m not a spy or an agent or a soldier, I just fly ships!” Bodhi tried again, looking helplessly at Baze. But Baze wasn’t his friend—just the only person who happened to answer his babbling.

Following Bodhi’s gaze, Gerrera also looked to Baze expectantly. The monk considered the situation with steepled fingers. “The Force moves strongly around him. He has more courage than he knows.”

“There, you see,” Gerrera said, offering what may have passed for an encouraging smile. The smile faded as quickly as it came and he stepped closer to Bodhi, making his intensity inescapable. “The message I have for you doesn’t just impact Jedha. It impacts all of us. I’ve had my quarrels with the Alliance and to save us all, I will try to move past that. However. I need to know if you are ready to hear this. If the Rebellion is ready to do what has to be done.” He pointed at the man kneeling on the floor. “Kill him.”

Bodhi’s hands shook and the man on the floor flinched and then trembled himself. Nowhere had Bodhi ever imagined that he would be in this position, that he would have to kill someone in cold blood just to get a ridiculous message! An important message. But he didn’t have a choice.

He leveled the blaster at the man’s head, trying to ignore the sound that could have been a whimper from under the hood. He tried to forget that it could have been him kneeling there just now. He tried not to think about the man’s motivations for doing what he did, or the stress he must have been under at the time. He tried to ignore his heart hammering and his hands shaking and his whole being screaming no.

When his hand finally steadied, it was because he was starting to put pressure on the trigger. Just a simple squeeze and it would all be over. He could get the message; get out again. Bodhi closed his eyes and dropped the blaster pistol to his side, having never pulled the trigger.

“No,” he said. “I can’t-.. I won’t. I won’t kill like that.”

When he opened his eyes again, Gerrera held his hand out for the pistol and he handed it over, fully expecting him to finish the job. Or to turn it on him. Instead he nodded to another soldier nearby who pulled the hood off of the prisoner—the man looked up at Bodhi and eased back to sitting on heels, peaceful but also somewhat relieved. Then the soldier gave him a hand to pull him up and the realization dawned on him.

That man was never a prisoner.

Bodhi looked at Gerrera suddenly, demandingly. “He was one of yours all along, I mean none of this was real, was it?” His tone grew harsher the more that Gerrera simply watched him in return as Bodhi put the pieces together. “This was a kriffing test!”

Gerrera nodded. “He is not a traitor, but he was willing to die for the cause. The question is, pilot Bodhi Rook, are you? Are you willing to die for this? Are you willing to kill a friend because they put us all in danger?” He turned away, beginning to stalk out of the room, leaving behind the rest of his soldiers. “Come now. You’ve proven yourself.”

 

\--

 

“Galen Erso,” Saw said. “We have known each other for years, but he has been under the eye of the Empire for so long.” He emphasized with the data chip in his hand, motioning with it before plugging it into the hologram console. “The last time I saw him was when the Empire took him away. Until now.”

Maybe his superiors had known something about the message already because Bodhi also knew of Galen Erso, though he didn’t have the relationship that Gerrera had with him. They had met, a few years ago. Maybe that was why he was sent, because when the hologram came up, it certainly was Galen standing in front of him.

“Saw. We’ve had our differences in the past and for my part, I hope that this message will begin to explain my methods and reasons, even though I know there is no excuse.” Galen’s hologram was dressed in an Imperial uniform, though Bodhi didn’t recognize the insignia on his arm. It was a hexagon with three lines intersecting each other off-center.

“The only reason I’ve gone along with this was for Jyn. Without her, my world would have no light in it and I would have nothing to live for, especially not since Lyra passed. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of Lyra and the life we could have had away from all of this, from the Empire, and how we could have been free. But I still have Jyn and I thank everything for that.”

_The cargo pilot had been easy enough to track down. Jyn kept 7221 in a support position, rather wanting to find the pilot Tivik on her own. The man had a broken arm—he wasn’t going to try to run from her._

“You must know that we are building a horrible super weapon with the power to destroy an entire planet. This is why the Empire is harvesting the Kyber crystals off of Jedha and though the interference has slowed down our progress, it hasn’t stopped it. The weapon is near competition. They are calling it the Death Star.”

 _The Ring of Kafrene was a good place to hide but Tivik didn’t blend into the crowd enough to avoid being tracked down by Jyn. She needed information first. She needed to know what he leaked and where it happened. When she applied pressure, he would talk_.

“I stalled development as much as I could but I know that they would find a way to build it even without me. Stalling does us nothing; it buys time but it does not stop it from happening. My only hope—my only redemption—is that I threw myself into my own. I made myself as valuable as I could, for I feared that if I stopped, they might take Jyn away from me. But I could not unleash such destruction on the galaxy, so I laid a trap inside of this weapon.”

_Jedha. The leak was on Jedha. She knew of the Kyber crystal activity there so perhaps it shouldn’t have come as a surprise with all of the protests and resistance that had built up on the moon. What ever Tivik had delivered there must have been important. She didn’t question how Krennic had known about Tivik’s betrayal or who had reported it, but she knew, or rather she learned, that it must involve Krennic’s project. Her father’s project as well._

“You must get this message to the Rebellion. Lyra had her faith in them as well and I know that they can help us for they have the numbers. You must do this if the galaxy is to survive. I cannot imagine what the Empire will do with this kind of power.”

_Jyn didn’t know what Krennic was working on but she didn’t think that Tivik did either. He was just the middle-man, delivering a message from someone deeper inside the Empire to the Partisans and specifically, Saw Gerrera. But that was all she managed to get out of him._

“I am not doing this to save myself because were I a better man, I could have protected my family. I am doing this to save Jyn. She is my everything; she is my stardust, and my life is only for her because I don’t dare give it for the Empire. Only Jyn is going down a dark path and I am terrified I will lose her forever. If I am to save her, I cannot stand aside and do nothing any longer. I must act. We must act. I will not lose my little girl to the Empire.”

_She stood over the body of the cargo pilot in an alley on Kafrene, having taken all of the information she needed from him. Krennic said to get the job done. So she had plugged a leak. Now she would trace it to its source and eliminate that as well._

“I have very little time left, but I will contact you again. You must stop this weapon before it becomes active or the consequences will cost millions of lives.”

The hologram winked out and Bodhi stood staring at the space where Galen’s blue figure had been. His stomach churned at the thought of this Death Star that could destroy entire planets. How was that even possible. The Rebellion needed to know. They all needed to know now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, now that the board is set, time to move the pieces around and see how much trouble they can get themselves into. As a side note, I'm slightly disturbed at how much fun Krennic is to write. What an ass.

Chapter 2

_For the 16th anniversary of her birth, Krennic gave Jyn two presents, with the first being a compact, high-powered blaster.  It was small enough to conceal under a jacket but enough to make a statement.  The second present came in the form of an assignment by herself, or at least mostly.  Krennic still sent one of his TX Death Troopers with her._

_That had been the biggest challenge.  TX-7221 was new to Krennic’s guard detail, by a few months, and Jyn did everything she could to try to get away from his watch.  Going anywhere with a black-clad Stormtrooper was akin to marching at the head of an entire column of troopers while trying not to be seen.  She worked best when she could move around on her own, slip in and out of places, and sometimes disappear.  Now that Krennic was giving her much more important assignments rather than just running errands, she needed to be as inconspicuous as possible._

_The assignment itself went off successfully but it was the unexpected flare-up of the Rebels that interfered instead.  Jyn had long lost her black shadow and instead ran with the rest of the civilian crowd away from the destruction that the Rebels left in their wake.  They were everywhere anymore.  In fact, she'd been tracking down the source of an attack on an Imperial shipment for her uncle when she ran into them again._

_They were hurting more people for the sake of their stupid rebellion than they were helping them.  These people weren't suffering under the Empire, they had food and housing.  Most of them.  The ones that worked anyway; the ones that earned it.  But now, running through the smoke and damaged metal platforms of the multi-leveled city, all Jyn saw was destruction and pain caused by the Rebellion._

_Civilians dissolved into hysterics but at least Jyn could keep her head, dodging around them enough not to make herself a target. Without TX-7221, she could blend in and look like just another civilian trying to get away from the clash of the freedom fighters and the Imperial garrison. She was almost to the shuttle depot and her waiting ship, but the battle was following closely and the metal walkway shuddered at another explosion nearby._

_Then the walkway in front of her was gone. It had been there a second ago, but the blaster canon shot barely had a chance to land before there was a gaping hole ripped through the metal. Jyn was already sliding toward the edge, desperately reaching for something to cling to as she slipped through the hole, until someone grabbed onto her wrist instead and she jerked to a halt with her body dangling over the edge, looking down onto the jagged rocks below the cliff of the city._

_As another hand gripped her wrist to keep her from falling, she pulled her eyes away from what would have been death below her to the black helmet of the stormtrooper who had caught her. It was him—the one she’d spent so much time losing in the city. TX-7221 looked back at her just a second longer before he started to lean back, pulling her up onto the walkway and onto safety with him._

_Jyn was able to get some traction with her feet and climbed back out of the damaged walkway, laying on the ground next to 7221 to catch her breath and try to steady her heart. “Don’t tell Krennic,” she said to him._

_He stood up again and offered his hand again. “Not a word, ma’am.”_

She dropped behind cover as soon as the first shots were fired, blaster in hand and ready to find an opening to get away. The Ring of Kafrene had been unstable for years as a trade route.  It was the meeting point of various factions and inevitably there would be conflict.  And where there was conflict, there would be Jyn Erso.

It wasn’t their conflict though—something about trade gangs and crime syndicates and wherever they clashed, there was chaos that didn’t care who got caught in the middle of all of it. Other Imperial troops quickly responded, rushing in to try to subdue the fighting in the streets, but Jyn stayed in cover, not making a move to help, and TX-7221 was across the alley from her, analyzing the scene. Her job was already done; now they just needed to get off of the overcrowded rock.

“We need to move,” 7221 said.

Jyn just nodded in response. Of course they did, but they couldn’t charge out into the battle. One of the fighters, backing up as he fired his rifle blindly back at his enemy, pushed closer to them and Jyn reached out and grabbed him, hammering the side of his head with her blaster to knock him down. “Go—straight to the ship!”

7221 stayed right behind her, though he was in crowd-control mode. His mission was simply her. It wasn’t jumping in with the other troopers to shut down riots just because he wore armor too. Instead, he had her back and Jyn knew it. She knew if she missed a hostile target, 7221 would catch it instead.

That was how they moved through the streets, taking them one at a time and as quickly as possible. At least with all of the fighting erupting around them, Tivik’s body lying in an alley somewhere wouldn’t look that out of place.

Jyn stopped suddenly, out in the open of a narrow street, and flipped her blaster in her hand to be able to use the butt to bludgeon the hostile in front of her. 7221 came up against her back, firing at two more of them, upset as their comrade went down by Jyn’s hand. They were getting worse, attacking anything that they saw moving, whether it was a rival or just a civilian.

When she did start to push on again, they were quickly overwhelmed by a rush of civilian evacuees where the crowd was as thick as swamp water. It was the perfect moment to see the flashing of a thermal detonator. Jyn only had seconds to react and she dove again for anything that resembled cover, just hoping that 7221 would do the same.

The detonator went off; loud enough to make her ears ring but her last attempt at getting away from it had saved her life. The explosion only drew in more of the warring factions, with blaster shots already hitting the walls nearby. She scrambled to get to her feet, looking back down the street. 7221 wasn’t beside her anymore—instead he was on the other side of the crowd, pinned down by debris. Maybe he saw her, or maybe he was just motioning and hoping she saw, but he waved his arm, trying to get her to go.

She should. She should leave him there and get to safety herself. They had gone through countless missions before, side-by-side or back-to-back, and always left together. She couldn’t leave him, even if she knew she should.

Jyn pushed through the crowd to try to get to him. “Cassian!”

_“You must have a name.”_

_“Yes.”_

_The one word answers, or even the formalities, were more than just starting to infuriate her. They were spending enough time around each other that she was starting to learn the sound of his footsteps walking around the small ship, or the way he held himself that differentiated himself from all of the other soldiers underneath armor and helmets. Why shouldn’t she know his name?_

_Jyn looked impatient at the back of his head, leaning against the entrance to the cockpit. “Then tell me what it is.”_

_“TX-7221,” he answered._

_There it was again—the infuriation of his neutral tone in avoiding answering what she was asking. He knew he was doing it; he had to know. Jyn didn’t like being led around. If she wanted an answer, she not only expected one, but she expected it to be a satisfactory._

_“Turn around and look at me,” she ordered. There was a pause, but he turned in the copilot’s chair to look at her. The droid in the other seat hovered its hand over a few switches, cocking its head to the side, but it ultimately didn’t look at her, staying out of the situation. “I can order you to tell me, trooper.”_

_She had her arms folded, tapping one finger on her arm impatiently. His body language spoke to her too, specifically at the way he held onto the side of the chair with his hand. She was annoying him too. Good. He could end all of it very quickly. “TX-7221 is my designation, ma’am.”_

_“I’m not calling you that,” she said stubbornly. “I’m not calling you a bunch of numbers when we’re out there in the heat of everything. You have a name, don’t you, then tell me what it is.”_

_He didn’t take his helmet off even on the ship, even when it was just them. Though, if it was taking this much effort to even get a name out of him, she shouldn’t be surprised about that. The emotionless helmet made it difficult to see what he was thinking. Maybe that was the point. He was generic. He had a number._

_“I.. can’t.” His voice faltered slightly and she sensed that there must be a living being underneath that uniform._

_Jyn set her jaw, certainly not willing to back down now that she had made some progress. “You weren’t born a stormtrooper. It stays between us. Tell me, Sergeant.”_

_“Some of them are. Some of them are born into this.” It was the most words he’d said altogether to her for a long time, certainly since getting onto the ship with her this time. More progress._

_“But you weren’t,” she said._

_He dropped his head just slightly, perhaps—hopefully—in resignation to give her_ _what she wanted. What could the harm be in it anyway? It was just a name._

_“Cassian,” he said, at last._

There was always silence after a detonator went off, even if only for a few seconds.  Sometimes it was the silence when everything had been so loud that was disorienting.  The moments that it took for his awareness to come back after being slammed against a hard surface by a blast felt like it took an eternity.  When the world rushed back in, it was a violent place with the screams of the injured and an influx of assailants, driven to the area by the explosion. 

His blaster had fallen just out of arm’s length.  7221 reached for it, ducking as a blaster bolt hit the ground nearby, but his foot wouldn't move, caught beneath twisted metal of what used to be a wall, blown to hell by the explosion. Without his weapon, he was a prime target and his armor would only withstand so much damage. Another burst of blaster fire hit the ground next to him as he sat up, trying to push the heavy plating off of his leg.

Jyn should already be gone; she was far enough away from the blast, he made sure that he was closer. He had to make sure she got away safely if nothing else. If at the expense of his life, that was acceptable. If he died though, who would be by her side. He was better than this; he could survive this.

An angry rioter was running straight for him. He gritted his teeth and pushed the metal plate up enough that he could pull his leg out quickly, and he made a dive for his blaster, but his attacker was almost on top of him. Then it happened so quickly that she came out of nowhere, smashing the rioter across his face with a metal baton. Suddenly Jyn was there, hitting the next creature in line and dispatching it in two—three blows before moving onto the next one, and the next one.

7221’s hand curled around the blaster but he didn’t fire, still laying on the ground even with his leg freed, watching Jyn Erso at her finest as she cut through the rioters caught up in the mob experience as if was nothing more than hitting snowmen with sticks. She flipped the baton in her hand and took down the last one by breaking his jaw before she turned back to 7221.

He was, well.. he hadn’t moved. He was impressed. She always managed to impress him somehow even when he thought he’d seen everything she had to offer, and maybe a lot of it because he hadn’t expected her to come back. She knew her job as much as he did.

Jyn looked back at him, shoving the baton back in her belt as she started to walk over—no doubt a sarcastic remark on her tongue.  But 7221 saw one of the rioters move and he quickly raised his blaster, firing just past her to hit the target before it even got up enough to cause any damage.  She barely flinched--he never would have hit her with the shot, even as close as it was to her.  She trusted him.

And she'd come back for him.

"You should have gone," he said, looking up at her.

She reached a hand out to him, even though he was fully capable of getting to his feet.  "You wouldn't have."

It was true, he wouldn't have left without her, but he had his orders and so did she.  Jyn was to complete the job at all costs.  7221 was to protect her at all costs.

Protecting her had become more than just a mission mandate though.  Cassian wanted to protect her.  He was assigned to guard her but she was more than just a charge--she was a partner.  She had become something forbidden even.  He wanted to rip his helmet off and kiss her but his training had suppressed urges that didn't apply to the Empire, so instead he stood with her, letting her hold his hand for a second longer.

He didn't know what he'd do if she wanted that too.

Jyn didn't betray herself or what she was thinking, except that she had just kicked a lot of ass and she was proud of it.  That didn't make his urges any easier to ignore.  She pressed a comlink into his chest armor to give it to him instead of just handing it over; maybe she wanted to touch him, or maybe she just wanted to show her dominance.  "Get us out of here."

\--

_The living quarters on Courscant didn’t offer a lot of hallways or things to get into, but when Galen couldn’t find Jyn, it seemed like a nightmare-ish maze. She had been right there in his office, but the call had lasted longer than anticipated and she was gone. She was gone for who knows how long._

_Since Lyra’s sudden and unexpected passing, Galen’s protection of Jyn had risen to unprecedented lengths. The investigations called the shuttle crash due to Rebel activity but Lyra had been no enemy of the Alliance, even with her husband working for the Empire’s development division. Jyn was supposed to be with her mother on that flight. Then he would have lost both of them._

_He charged down the hallway, not running but walking still and he called out her name once. There wasn’t an answer in return except for the soft sound of laughter coming from down the hall. “Jyn?” Galen quickened his pace._

_The sound wasn’t coming from the direction of his quarters but rather the opposite way that led toward Krennic’s office of all places. He stopped at the door and punched the button to open it, not even thinking that if there was laughter that she must be all right. He just needed to see her._

_It took him a minute to process the scene in front of him. Krennic’s office, typically a combination of finicky neatness and organized chaos, had a scatter of pillows, a stuffed bantha and a plastic stormtrooper thrown across the floor. Then there in front of the desk were the two of them. Jyn sitting cross-legged with something—a towel perhaps—tied around her neck and across her shoulders to drape down her back like a familiar white cape, and Krennic lounging next to her with his arm resting on top of one bent knee and the other stretched out in front of him casually._

_“Papa!” Jyn bounced up excitedly, running over to pull Galen further in by his hand. “We beat the Rebels, Papa, we blew them_ up _!”_

_Krennic just looked amused, especially at the expression Galen was sure was on his face. “Yes, come join us, Galen. It’s about time, though you missed one hell of a battle.”_

_“What-..” Galen wasn’t even certain what words to use to describe it. It should have warmed his heart that his daughter had found her way to Krennic’s office and roped him into playing with her, but maybe it was the fact that she was drawn to Krennic that disturbed him. “Jyn, you shouldn’t disturb the Commander, he’s a very busy man-.. I’m sorry, she ran off on her own.”_

_“No, no.” Krennic waved a hand dismissively. “No, don’t apologize. It was no bother, was it, Jyn? We defeated the Rebels, as you see by the things littering the floor..”_

_“And now we’re having tea!” Jyn interjected._

_The Commander smiled at her warmly. “Precisely. Tea is exactly what we do after exterminating our enemies, and I must say that your daughter is a wonderful hostess as well as a soldier.”_

_Six years old and dreaming of wiping out the Rebellion. Galen had to force himself to smile, but the practice was becoming more and more common lately, maybe even starting to look genuine. “Well, I’m pleased that you’re both getting along so well, but we really should go, Jyn. The Commander does have to work.”_

_Jyn looked slightly heartbroken, but she dutifully reached down to pick up her stormtrooper off of the floor. “Yes, Papa.” She paused, looking back at Krennic though. “Can we play again?” she asked, hopefully. “You promised to let me hold your blaster and everything!”_

_The words were like an electric jolt through Galen’s chest, but Krennic just started to laugh, quickly pressing his finger to his lips. “Shh, darling, you’re not supposed to mention that part to anyone else.”_

_Jyn didn’t look the least big sheepish, just grinning right back at him. “Sorry, Uncle.”_

_Krennic pushed himself up onto his knees, holding his arms out. “Then come here and give me a hug before you go.”_

_She ran into him, latching her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. For Krennic’s part, he wrapped his arms around her, looking warm and soft as an uncle. As he looked up at Galen, however, a smile started to play at his lips. He was going to make her belong to him. “We’ll play Hero of the Empire again soon,” he said, perhaps to both of them. “That will be you one day, Jyn, I know it.”_

_Galen didn’t smile back. That was his daughter; his responsibility to raise and teach. Now Krennic was marking her future as his, already beginning to add his fingerprints to her developing mind, and daring Galen to challenge him. And Galen—he was afraid to lose._

Krennic’s shadow preceded him, appearing over Galen’s work table as a blocky image with his cape.

“Galen.”

A chill went down Erso’s spine but he managed not to shiver, only calmly setting down his datapad to turn to look at him. “Director. I was going over the last reactor test readings and the results are even more promising,” he reported. Maybe if he gave Krennic something, it would help whatever had darkened Krennic’s expression 

It was only a few weeks since he’d gotten the message out to Saw. It couldn’t be that, could it? If Krennic was going to find out, he would have found out ages ago and he certainly wouldn’t drag it out. Galen felt the anxiety climb back into his chest and twist around his stomach—the same sensation that kept him up at night sometimes. Maybe he should have never sent the message, but no. He had to; it was too important.

Krennic clasped his hands behind his back, looking oddly rigid. He normally relaxed around Galen, slipping easily into familiarity. “That’s good news. I’m pleased to hear that, given the bad news that has come out of your department.”

His heart started to beat up into his throat, but Galen had become too practiced at hiding lies that he knew he didn’t betray himself. He only looked neutral, if not somewhat concerned. “Bad news—I don’t understand.”

Unclasping his hands, he pressed his lips together and motioned with a single finger, indication he would get into the details, but first he walked closer, almost to Galen’s chair, and perched himself on the edge of Galen’s work table, letting one leg hang off of it while the other braced against the ground. It allowed him to lean into Galen’s space more. “Well. I’m afraid someone in your department has been spreading information.”

The chill came back, washing over Galen’s body. He knit his brow together, leaning back in his chair to look up at the man more. Krennic was being guarded instead of wearing what he was thinking where Galen could get at it. “Information? They’re all loyal, I know that. All of my people.”

Krennic pursed his lips, carefully considering what to say next. “We don’t know what was sent out, just that it was carried by a pilot and it came from your division.” He lifted his head to look at Galen in the eye. “I sent Jyn to take care of the pilot, of course.”

“Krennic..”

“Oh _come_ now,” Krennic said impatiently. “Aren’t we still friends? _Galen_?”

Galen closed his eyes, breathing out. “Orson. Please. Jyn is not--.. I don’t want her being used in this way. There are plenty of other ways she can help.”

“She is helping. She’s a captain in the Imperial Navy, what else would she do?” he pushed back. “Jyn is damn good at what she does and at the rate she’s going, she will be hero of the Empire someday. Don’t sell your daughter short.”

He played the man beaten and resigned well enough to distract Krennic from his purpose, even temporarily, letting Galen have time to digest that he was so close to discovering everything. Maybe he already knew. Maybe he was just stalling. “No, of course not. She is very capable; I am just concerned as her father. I don’t like her being in danger.”

“She wouldn’t be in danger—potentially in danger—if someone in your division hadn’t put this entire project in jeopardy.” The director folded his arms and Galen started to get the sense that Krennic didn’t know where the transmission had come from. It didn’t mean he could let his guard down, however. Krennic tipped his chin down, letting out a breath as he forced himself to calm down. “Listen. Galen. How many years have we put into this? To achieving peace and order in the galaxy? I’m not letting one person bring us down from the inside out.”

“I understand,” Galen said. “We are all working toward the betterment of the Empire. All of my people are loyal; I don’t understand who would do this.”

“Well, you’ve always been trusting. Just look at Lyra and her loyalties,” Krennic replied, laying a hand on Galen’s shoulder. “I need your help. I need to know who it is that betrayed us. Find out and I’ll deal with them.” He smiled at him, leaning in just a little closer to his ear. “I wouldn’t want you to get your perfect hands dirty.”

So he didn’t know. The irony of talking Lyra when Krennic was blind to what was in front of him and it all had to do with love. Except Galen had always known where Lyra kept her loyalties. He turned his head to look up at Krennic, meeting his eyes—he was close now. Krennic liked to encroach on his personal space, but for Galen’s part, he didn’t fight it. “If I can’t find out who it is?”

Krennic leaned back, squeezing Galen’s shoulder as he got to his feet. “Well, I’d hate to waste all of those scientists, but we can always find new ones.”

\--

It hadn’t been what the Rebellion had wanted to hear. Specifically, not what General Draven wanted to hear. Apparently Draven knew something about Erso, which was a surprise to Bodhi, though really he wasn’t as well-versed in the world of intelligence as he ought to be considering he was a _bloody cargo pilot_ not an intelligence operative. The transmission didn’t get his hopes up though.

As it happened, or as Bodhi found out in the span of a five minute transmission call, Draven knew who Erso was and enough about the man to at least make an impression, and he already knew something about a massive Imperial weapon. The connection was new—Erso and the weapon—as was the idea that the Empire could destroy an entire planet.

It resulted in new orders. Stay with Gerrera. Find Erso. If the sabotage isn’t located, then kill him.

Bodhi was sitting on a box in an empty room in Saw’s fortress, staring at his hands and decidedly not at the comm terminal. He was still digesting all of the information with the rush of Saw showing him Erso’s message, now new orders. He didn’t know where to begin.

Footsteps made him look up as Baze Malbus entered the room. Out of anybody there, at least the monk was the least stressful, which was odd given his appearance as a large Jedhian man with hair long enough to be braided and forgotten about. Even with the brown and white robe of a Guardian, he looked as though he knew how to handle himself and from everything that Bodhi had seen about Saw and his men, he didn’t doubt it. 

Baze waited for Bodhi to speak, leaning against the wall with his shoulder and crossing one leg in front of the other, looking calm, relaxed. Not in a hurry. 

Not that Bodhi was in a hurry necessarily but he certainly had a lot of thoughts racing to get out. The struggle was organizing them into something intelligent. There were a lot of things Bodhi wanted to say first but the flicker of the memory of the stormtroopers at the Kyber and the time when he first met Baze was playing at his mind. “The man in NiJedha, at the temple—the blind one. Who was he?”

Still relaxed, still not in a hurry, Baze took his time considering the question with his eyes far away in thought. “He is a friend. A long time ago, he was one of the strongest of the Guardians of the Whills.”

But that was a long time ago. Bodhi got a sense of longing from the far-off tone of Baze’s voice. They must have known each other for a long time too. “Not anymore? What happened?”

“The Empire happened,” Baze answered. “It happened to us all. No one’s faith was stronger than his once.” He looked over, catching Bodhi’s eyes. “Faith is what we stand on against the Empire.”

That was what he was seeing there. It was faith. All of these people believed in something and here it was Saw Gerrera. Bodhi barely knew him and Saw was—to be quite frank, he terrified Bodhi. The Rebellion called him an extremist and Bodhi wasn’t sure he disagreed.

“Would Gerrera have really made me kill that man?” he asked.

He considered the question and then offered a shrug before an answer. “Perhaps. As Saw said, he was prepared to die. We should all be prepared.”

That was not what Bodhi wanted to be confronted with at the moment. He looked back down at his hands. Mortality. The Empire could come out of nowhere right now and destroy the planet with them on it. It didn’t really matter. He hadn’t gone on this mission expecting to have to face his own mortality. Maybe it would have been better to have just died suddenly than to sit around thinking about it.

Baze tilted his head to the side, studying him again. Perhaps his words hadn’t helped. “For most of us, now is not the time. The Force calls all of us in the end. When the time comes to make your choice, whether it is your life or the next, you will know what to do.”

“I hope so,” Bodhi said, nodding his head.

“I know so,” Baze replied. He moved closer, sitting on another box nearby. “Do you have family still on Jedha.”

The question surprised him some in that it was just unexpected. They were so focused on the Rebellion and the Empire that they forgot they were still people sometimes. The thought of them made Bodhi smile though, even for a moment. “My mother and sister, yes. They live in the city. I didn’t even tell them I was coming."

Baze shifted and then pressed a pair of data chips into Bodhi’s hand. “Travel documents. You need to get them off of the moon and to safety.”

He looked up at Baze quickly. Jedha was already a dangerous place but for some of them, for Bodhi, for Baze, for his family it was still home. “Why, what-.. what’s going to happen here?”

Saw Gerrera’s heavy gait preceded him before he stepped into the doorway of the room, looking in on them with a tight-lipped expression. Something had happened just now. Things were changing quickly. If Baze was right about the Force, it was pushing them all in its direction. “Pilot Bodhi, come. We have work to do. We’ve received another message. Galen wants us—wants _you_ —to get him out.”

\--

The droid's designation was K-2SO.  It had been built as an enforcer, programmed to defend Imperial assets.  At least until it had been damaged.  That went to show how far Imperial loyalty went--some damage and there it was scheduled for the incinerator.  Regardless, it wasn't programmed or built to fly a ship and rescue two idiots who couldn't stay out of trouble.

That was what it found itself doing now.  Flying a ship.  Rescuing Imperial assets.  Only occasionally bashing someone's head in as it was intended.  Of course, its alternative fate was a lot worse with the incinerator.

Once it landed the ship, it turned to look back, ensuring that its two wards, Captain Erso and TX-7221, were indeed the ones who came onboard the ship.  "You said this assignment would not involve firefight.  I see that you were, again, wrong.  That is the fifth time this cycle." 

“Shut up and get us in the air.” 7221 pushed forward onto their shuttle, setting his blaster rifle down so he could climb up next to K-2 and into the pilot’s seat.

The droid looked back further at Captain Erso, but she didn’t seem very interested in it either. Turning back around, it wrapped long fingers around the controls, preparing to get airborne once again. “All I am saying is that it was an awful lot of explosions for a successful mission.”

As Cassian’s responses grew more annoyed, Jyn settled in the back. The banter had become familiar in the shuttle. It made her feel at home, even if K-2 was often difficult and referred to them as ‘highly ineffectual’. That was the routine: they finished the assignment, loaded back onto the shuttle, headed back. Then they would be sent out again.

Jyn watched out the window of the shuttle as the atmosphere dropped away and they came into space again, thinking about what it meant to have them with her, or maybe what they meant to her. She trusted Cassian—Jyn had been through countless situations with him where they needed to rely on each other, least of all in the heart of the Empire.

Once they were in hyperspace, Cassian climbed out of the cockpit, leaving the monitoring to the droid, and walked over to Jyn, looking down at her through the expressionless helmet. “You should have gone,” he repeatedly.

She looked up at him, equally as calm. She didn’t wear a mask to hide her emotions—she had to do it herself. “I told you; you wouldn’t have.”

“I have _orders_ ,” he stressed.

The briefest of smiles played at her lips as she started to look amused. “And you’ve never disobeyed orders before, TX-7221?”

She had him there, she knew it, but his stance and his resolve stood solid. “Not where it’s concerned you,” he answered. It wasn’t a stormtrooper answering. He should have said no. No, he’s never disobeyed an order. His priorities were becoming more clear.

Jyn stood up, facing him on the same level. “Take off your helmet.”

_“Take off your helmet.”_

_Wasn’t wanting his name enough, now she wanted him to remove his helmet.  7221 didn’t move, grateful that she couldn’t see the expression that crossed his face.  "Ma'am, I can't."_

_"Why, because you need it that badly?" she taunted.  Jyn had known his name, his true name, for over a year and he thought that satisfied her.  It was restricted for use on their missions only, which he had made very clear--perhaps the only time he had ever issued orders to her off of the battlefield.  Surprisingly, she had listened._

_"It's not allowed," he said.  He knew he should walk away, prevent her from tearing down the walls that the Empire had so forcefully constructed around him._

_Jyn wasn't swayed, folding her arms and staring right back at him. Since he started wearing the black armor, he found a lot less people would try to stare him down. The black was elite and intimidating. Jyn knew him though; she knew his name and she wasn’t afraid._

_“I really don’t care what’s allowed and what’s not,” she said. “I’m the one giving the orders. Take it off.”_

_She might be issuing orders right there, but there were orders from much higher positions at work. 7221 continued to stand his ground. “No, ma’am.”_

_“That answer isn’t good enough, Cassian. I want to see your face. I want to see who I’m dealing with,” she said._

_She hadn’t been ingrained with training and threatened with punishment by the Empire. Of course she didn’t understand the debate. What if he gave in though—would it really hurt anything?_

_He turned his head away, wanting to consider the situation without looking at her face because that made decisions more likely to deal with her. “Why?” he asked._

_“Why yourself?” she returned. “If it’s such a big deal, then tell me why you can’t.”_

_He looked back at her. She had never asked him why; why he did something, why orders were followed, why he couldn’t act on his own. Being presented with it startled him slightly. Did he really need a reason—was it enough of one?_

_“Orders,” he said. “We can’t, not without permission.”_

_“So you keep that bucket on your head until someone tells you to take it off. And my word isn’t good enough?”_

_7221 nodded._

_Jyn actually started to smile, looking down toward the floor. He didn’t believe for a second that she would leave it alone now that he had told her why. She was far too stubborn._

_“Cassian, take it off,” she said at length. “You’re with me. Act for yourself.”_

_Underneath his refuge where she couldn’t see his face, he closed his eyes. He wasn’t going to be able to resist it, or she was going to continue to push him until he just did it. All of his instincts screamed at him that it was wrong—it wasn’t what had been enforced—but finally, he reached up and pulled the helmet off, blinking slowly at the naked lights of the shuttle’s cargo area._

_He fully expected her to come down on him hard for giving in. Cassian was by no means weak. He’d proven that over and over. But he wanted to trust her and if that didn’t make him weak, it at least made him foolish._

_Instead, she just smiled. “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?”_

_He lifted his eyes to hers. The child of a scientist who had been given everything and grown up under the cape of one Orson Krennic. She had no idea what she was playing with._

“Cassian. Tell me to my face why I should have left you there.”

He did it. He took off the helmet and dropped it down to the floor plating beside them. However, he didn’t have any words for her. None of the things he wanted to say came out—not that it had to do with orders, or that she was in danger, or that she just wouldn’t _understand_.

Jyn had started them down this road and now he was going to finish it. He wouldn’t tell her why, he would show her. Cassian closed the distance between them, taking the side of her face in his hand, and kissing her. It began quietly but grew with confidence as she melted into him until he had pushed her against the wall, bracing himself with his other hand. She gripped the back of his armor, and even when they parted, still lingering close and breathless, she didn’t let go.

“That is why,” he said.

Her eyes flitted downward and she gave a soft laugh. “That reason is shit.”

As she looked back up at him, he was drawn in by their closeness and he kissed her again. Only, she was insistent, adding urgency and depth, and unhooking her fingers from his armor so she could wrap her arms all the way around him and draw them both together as one.

The thought crossed his mind: Krennic was going to kill him for this. But if that’s what was necessary--Jyn Erso was worth dying for.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided that Tarkin is a micromanaging boss and enjoys pissing off people under him just for the hell of it. Last week was very busy and I didn't get as much done as I wanted and next week will be too but I sat down last night and wrote a ton so here we go. Somehow I also avoided using the delicious cliffhanger I had planned for this chapter because Galen has a lot of feels.

Chapter 3

Krennic never considered it to be a good morning when he had to face the skeletal visage of Tarkin on the viewscreen in his office.  In fact, he thought, had Tarkin ever not been old?  Certainly he had always been an idiot, constantly going over Krennic's down-fallings and, the most irritating part, issuing orders without any indication of what he was actually doing.

"I know how to do my job!"  Tarkin was his superior and Krennic hadn't just crossed the line, he'd taken a flying leap over it.  That was all it took though--Tarkin could just look at him and he would start to get defensive.

The way that Tarkin slightly narrowed his eyes and his mouth twitched displayed his annoyance, but Krennic wasn't about to back down.  "Then I expect you to do it.  The recent security breech you had I hear still hasn't been resolved."

Krennic tapped his fingers on the wood of his desk.  "The leak has been taken care of, I assure you.  All those involved will be eliminated."

"I grow very tired of these reports, Director.  Even one instance is too much and I've been showing you my patience by allowing this to continue.  I expect results.  You've been behind schedule for the past month.  Find a way to motivate your people, or I will do it for you," Tarkin said in a low tone.

Working his jaw, Krennic still refused to entirely back down.  He would maintain some of his pride in the situation, instead of completely bowing down before Tarkin.  "We've been pushing to exhaustion, all of us."

"I want _results_ , not excuses!" Tarkin shot back.  "And what about Jedha?  The moon has been nothing but a thorn in our side."

Whatever inconvenience it caused Tarkin, he wasn't certain.  It wasn't as if the man was actually involved directly with Jedha or the Kyber crystals there.  It had taken a lot of fighting from the very beginning to even get the authority to proceed with the crystal project.

“What about Jedha? We’re all but finished there,” Krennic replied shortly.

Tarkin lifted his pointed chin at him. “You have been the target of frequent insurgent attacks, wasting resources that could have been elsewhere…”

“I’ll take care of Jedha-.." 

“..-I’ve poured support into this project and all I receive in return is insubordination and excuses..”

“I said I’ll do it!” Krennic snapped. “I’ll go there myself if I have to and Jedha will be finished.”

Tarkin pressed his lips into a thin line. “No you won’t, Director Krennic. Deal with Jedha. Resolve your security issues. I will be arriving to oversee the final details.”

Krennic forced himself to breathe through the red anger seething through his veins. “That is not necessary-..”

“This is not a choice,” Tarkin ordered. That was all he had to say; the connection suddenly cut out and Krennic was left in silence. 

Typically, he would have welcomed the silence, but after the call with Tarkin, it was grating on his nerves just as much.  He balled up a fist, but instead of hitting anything, he spotted his datapad and hurled it across the room into the wall, cracking the surface and shattering a few pieces onto the floor.

Jedha.  They truly didn't have another source of Kyber anywhere else, but the city had been more trouble than it was worth.  Now there was the security breach and it all just led back to Jedha.  He swore that planet and it's bloody rebels might just be the death of him.

Krennic hit the button of his comlink again.  "Find Captain Erso.  Send her to me."

\--

_Whatever had attracted the stormtrooper's attention had threatened to lock down the entire area, but Galen waved it off with authority he had but only pretended to use.  At least it got them out of his work area and intently patrolling the perimeter instead.  Galen had little use for the military decorum--he'd only come to take samples of the crystals.  There was no harm in that.  For the time being, they weren't even taking the crystals out of the temple._

_He did feel some remorse that they would have to eventually take the crystals from the beautiful temple, but Jedha was the only accessible or even known source of Kyber anywhere.  The locals had been protesting their use of the temple since his research group had arrived and no one protesting greater than the Guardians of the Whills.  This was their home.  Galen knew what it was like to be ripped from a peaceful life._

_But what could he tell them?  Feed them Krennic's lies about building peace through security?  At least with studying the Kyber crystals, he could start to unlock some of their properties.  The Jedi had really only scratched the surface and with the way that science was developing now, the possibilities of discovery were endless--and he had the funding of the Empire at his disposal as long as he played under the veil of research._

_Once the stormtroopers left the temple, Galen was more at home.  There were a few of his other researchers around but no one had his expertise in crystal studies.  He mostly worked alone and that satisfied him._

_Except, he wasn't exactly alone.  The first time he ignored it, but it was the third time he’d heard soft scuffling nearby and it wasn’t coming from any of his scanning equipment. Galen refused to carry a sidearm so if there was someone there, he was on his own. He was a scientist, after all, not a soldier._

_Briefly, he considered calling for the guards, with whatever had upset their insect-like qualities and caused them to swarm around the temple earlier. But he didn’t. There was no call for any further violence—not that there had been already and he hoped to keep it that way. Galen set down his scanner and edged closer to the storage containers to investigate the noise._

_It had quieted again and he tried to make his footsteps as silent as he could as he approached the edge of the containers. They were heavy enough that it took a few troopers to move them, which made for a good hiding place, he thought. Maybe it was some kind of animal._

_The sudden jolt of movement as he got too close, looking behind the containers, nearly threw Galen back and he actually did stumble. It was a boy—not an animal or even anything threatening—just a boy who had been startled just the same and pulled himself further back into the corner. Galen almost laughed if the poor boy hadn’t looked so frightened. Instead, he held his hands up peacefully and inched closer. “It’s okay,” he whispered._

_“No, no no.. don’t tell them I’m here,_ please _!” the boy stressed, hugging his arms around his knees._

_He couldn’t have been too much older than Jyn, maybe a couple of years. Galen’s heart ached for her. Certainly this boy hadn’t done anything wrong to be so scared. He crouched down, ignoring the popping of his knees, to be at the boy’s level. “I won’t tell them. Is that why you’re hiding?”_

_It seemed for a moment that the boy wasn’t going to tell him at all but then the words started spilling out of his mouth all at once. “The streets—the people, they were yelling and some of them started fighting, throwing rocks. They were arresting everybody. I swear I didn’t do anything, I-.. I might have thrown a rock. It was just one, I promise. I didn’t want a fight, I just needed food for my family.”_

_The Empire promised food and aid. Order and peace. Instead they destroyed a Temple. They arrested people for protesting. They let boys like this one go hungry._

_As the boy looked back at him with large, dark eyes, Galen couldn’t avoid helping and he didn’t want to either. Standing up, he grabbed as many nutrient packs that he thought the boy would be able to carry and brought them back down to him, giving them over as an offering._

_“No one needs to go hungry,” he said. “Can you tell me your name?”_

_The boy drew the nutrient packs up against his chest at first and then tried to stuff them into his shirt to hide them on the way out. He still fidgeted as Galen spoke to him and avoided his eyes, looking down frequently. So nervous—but growing up in fear would do that. “Bodhi.”_

_“Bodhi, my name is Galen.” He held his hand out to the boy. “I have a little girl at home, she might be around your age. Let’s get you out of there now.”_

_Looking up at him and trying to decide if giving away food was worthy of trust, Bodhi finally reached out and took Galen’s hand, letting the man help him out from behind the storage containers. “You promise you won’t let them take me away?”_

_Galen smiled softly at him. “I promise. In fact, let me give you something else. Something that will help you be brave.”_

_His samples were laid out on the table nearby—small shards of crystal, clear and catching the light of the room each in their own way. Galen picked one of them up and held it out to the boy, watching Bodhi’s eyes grow wide again at the sight of it._

_“Take it. My gift to you,” Galen said._

_\--_

“That’s Jedha.”

Jyn looked up when Cassian spoke, fingers still holding the crystal hanging from her necklace. She continued rolling it between her thumb and forefinger as she watched their approach to the unassuming looking moon from the viewscreen of the shuttle. Jedha was anything but peaceful though and according to the orders Krennic had issues when they departed, they were to spare no mercy in getting the job done. Stop the Rebels on Jedha once and for all. That was why Krennic was sending her—she would get the job done.

Cassian was sitting in the pilot’s chair with his helmet on the floor next to his feet. Sometimes she didn’t even have to say anything, he just did it. Neither of them had talked about how the mission to Kafrene had ended—maybe they didn’t need to, but she thought they would. Eventually. 

He turned back to look at her, short hair slightly matted down and stubble on his face since even with the Empire’s strict regulations, Krennic allowed some of his special operatives some almost human freedoms. She thought he had never looked more handsome than outline in the haze of Jedha’s atmosphere, about to risk their lives yet again.

“Do you have a plan?” he asked. 

She had been quiet—she had been thinking, though not all of it about Jedha. “I have a contact. We’ll meet him on the surface and he’ll get us inside. We can do the most damage from in there.”

Cassian didn’t question it, at least not yet, but the droid tilted its head to the side without looking back at them. “That doesn’t sound like much of a plan. I estimate a 78 percent chance of failure, as long as their numbers are not too high. Then it would be a 90 percent chance.”

“You’re staying with the ship, Target Practice,” Jyn said, folding her arms. She shot Cassian an impatient look. Control your droid.

He just shook his head and held up a hand as he faced forward again to prepare for landing. “It’s his circuits.”

K-2 instead straightened up at the comment and did look back at her with eerily bright visual receptors that burrowed into her. “I’m staying with the ship!” it questioned. “This is exactly what I’m programmed for. I should accompany you. The last time the two of you went out, you blew up a space station on an asteroid-..”

“We didn’t blow it up,” Cassian protested. 

“—Nearly blew it up.”

“You’re not programmed for that anymore.”

“And then you _kissed_!”

Jyn stood up suddenly, but no one spoke. Cassian sat tight-lipped and gripping the controls. Even K-2 was oddly silent after the outburst.

“We’re landing,” Cassian said at last. “You’re staying with the ship, K-2. That’s the end of it.”

The droid focused on the viewscreen again. “Very well. I would rather stay with the ship anyway. It’s dangerous where you’re going.”

Cassian rolled his eyes. Jyn could see it even from where she was standing. She, however, smiled just a little in amusement, making sure that K-2 never saw it.

\--

As it happened, they didn’t have to wait for Jyn’s contact as he was already there waiting for them.

The streets of Jedha were crowded enough, even with the Imperial occupation driving the activity of the planet to a minimum. Jyn tried to listen in as they walked the streets toward the temple but her ears just couldn’t pick up everything. There was one voice that cut through the crowd though, gaining her attention.

“If you want to blend in, you should lose your shadow.”

It was true that Cassian was gaining more than a few eyes on him being not only a stormtrooper in full armor with a heavy blaster rifle, but the signature black armor that couldn’t mean anything good. The people of Jedha had seen death troopers before, though she doubted that they fully understood his capabilities. As she looked back at him at the comment, she could see that Cassian was on high alert as well, scanning everything in the crowd. Too many bodies meant too hard to keep track of all of the threats.

Jyn turned her attention back to the voice; he wasn’t even nearby them yet his voice had sliced through the noise to get directly to her and no one else. That was how she knew it was him—the blind man sitting in the doorway of a bombed out building. Nodding to Cassian, she headed over to meet him.

“My shadow goes where I go,” she said as she stood in front of him. “This is such a public place to meet, Chirrut. I’m surprised, coming from you.”

Leaning on a staff, Chirrut climbed to his feet, flashing a warm smile in her direction. “Who would think twice about a blind man?” he asked.

“I would.” She held her hand out, offering it to him to discover. “You’re terribly suspicious.”

Reaching for her hand, Chirrut clasped it between both of his, laughing softly. “I’m not the one being accompanied by a stormtrooper, yet I’m the suspicious one?”

Jyn smiled in return, squeezing his hand. “Of course you are. Always the ones you don’t expect.”

He led them inside the building where at least they could have some privacy away from praying eyes and ears. Jyn had already notice the Tognath mercenary in the market watching them—the ominous looking being with a white and metal environmental mask and two-tube breathing system. Eyes like a droid too. At least they would be out of range of the Tognath.

“As much as I want to find out what you’ve been up to lately, we are on a schedule,” Jyn said, folding her arms. “Do you have a way in for us?”

Chirrut placed his staff in front of himself, grasping it with both hands and using it to lean as they spoke. “Perhaps it might startle you to know that I have work outside of waiting for you to call on me,” he replied in a lighter tone. They had worked together before, with Chirrut willing to trade his deadly skills for credits and Jyn looking for an ally without the entanglements of the Empire or the Rebellion.

“I do. But the situation has changed,” he said.

Cassian stood anxiously by the door, watching out toward the market, but also looking back to Jyn. He didn’t like staying in one place, she could tell, but they wouldn’t be there long. “From the wreckage in the street and the reports of how hard Gerrera is hitting the garrison forces, I’m not surprised. I still need in,” Jyn said. “That Tognath in the market, I know he works for Gerrera; they’re already watching.”

Chirrut nodded in agreement and motioned toward her with his staff. “It will be just you. You cannot bring your guard.”

That got Cassian’s attention and he stormed a few steps toward them. “ _What_?”

Jyn held a hand up at him, keeping her focus on Chirrut. “No, that wasn’t the deal.”

“It is the deal now,” Chirrut said. “He’s becoming more irrational. Bringing in more than just you—it would cause too many problems.”

She looked back at Cassian; he looked ready to spring into action, maybe to tackle Chirrut to the ground. That wouldn’t end well. It changed her plans but she could think on her feet. She could adapt. She knew he could too even if he didn’t want to in this instance.

“Fine. Just me then.” She caught Cassian’s head move sharply, gaze focused on her, but she said nothing to him, not yet. “Take me to see Saw, Chirrut.”

Chirrut blinked his greyed eyes neutrally and started to find his way to the door. “Then we will go see the Tognath.”

As Jyn started to follow him, she reached out and grabbed Cassian’s arm when she got close enough, speaking softly to him. “Follow us. Stay outside until I signal you to come in. You’ll know when.”

“I don’t like this,” he whispered back to her.

“I know. You’ll get me out. I trust you,” she said.

\--

“I don’t ask for much of you, Galen, and I give a lot in return.”

Galen froze with his hands on his desk and forced himself to stand up and face Krennic. He hadn’t even heard the man come in, and then suddenly he was there, looming just inside the laboratory and flanked by three of his guards. His tone put Galen on edge already, but he knew what the request had been—he had been dreading it ever since the conversation they had about it.

“Director,” he said neutrally. “I can’t say that I know what you’re talking about.”

The rest of Galen’s staff was taking notice with one of them started to edge closer to see what it was all about. Krennic was going to call him out in front of them. That was how he liked to do it—make a big show of everything. To be honest about it, Galen knew the day would come when Krennic found out everything. He had learned to lie and cover his tracks but Galen was a scientist, not a spy.

“Yes you do. It’s this lot.” Krennic motioned to the other men, most of whom looked harmless in lab coats. “In fact, get over here. All of you. We’re doing this right now.”

“Director-..” Galen said, holding a hand up, but the laboratory staff were already beginning to assemble and line up.

“No, I’ve had _enough_. We have been betrayed and I’m going to find who did it,” Krennic snapped. “I thought you could handle this, Galen, I really did. I thought you could figure it out so I don’t have to go through _every one_ of them before finding out who send the bloody message!”

Krennic drew his weapon, aiming it at the closest scientist—a white-haired man called Fenis. The laboratory staff gasped and murmured, a few of them stepping back. Galen didn’t dare take his eyes off of Krennic to look but the pounding of the death troopers’ boots to advance on them and make the scientists stay in one place wasn’t lost on him either.

This was the Krennic everyone in the project feared. This was the man who would push staff to exhaustion with irrational deadlines, or make an example of a young officer even when the punishment wasn’t necessary. But this was also the man who wanted to build a machine that killed planets.

The pistol whined as it came online and Fenis’ eyes widened again. “We’ll start with you,” Krennic sneered.

“Orson.” Galen stepped forward, hands held outward until he could put his hand on Krennic’s forearm. “Please. You don’t need to do this, these people--.. It wasn’t them. Just, put this away.”

Turning his gaze on Galen, the most frightening thing about all of it was that Krennic didn’t look like a madman. He looked calm—in control. “You know, Galen, this is all very disappointing. I always thought it would be you and me against the universe.” He pulled the trigger without even taking his eyes off of Galen’s face.

Fenis didn’t even make a sound until he hit the ground but Galen flinched as the pistol went off next to his ear and he closed his eyes, his hand still placed on Krennic’s arm. He hadn’t completed what he set out to do. He couldn’t give himself up or the Rebellion would never know his secret. But would he be able to live with more death on his conscience?

The rest of the staff started to shuffle and murmur in terror behind him but Galen didn’t open his eyes again until Krennic shouted for silence.

“It didn’t come from my department,” Galen said, steeling himself yet again. For the Rebellion. “I’ve checked everything, I’ve gone over all the transmission records. Check for yourself if you don’t trust me.”

Krennic lowered his pistol, but a sly smile came over his face instead. “Oh, but I’m very convinced it did.”

“You can’t kill my entire staff!” Galen said quickly.

It was as if he had issued a challenge instead of trying to convince Krennic to stand down. “I can. You’re really the only one I need now that the weapon is finished. If they’re loyal to the Emperor, then they should have no issue laying down their lives to ensure security.”

Galen set his jaw with renewed resolve. That was right. If they were loyal to the Emperor—if Krennic was loyal to the Emperor. “You throw away lives as if you’re the Emperor himself!”

Krennic spread his arms out, gesturing to everything before them. They weren’t standing on the Death Star, but they might as well be for that was Krennic’s throne. “I am here!”

“If you do this, Orson, you will lose me forever.” It was the last threat that Galen could muster, but he knew it would have weight. He knew it as soon as he saw Krennic’s mouth twitch in dissatisfaction.

Instead though, he sighed. “Then I hate that it’s come to this. You are far too trusting, Galen. One of them _betrayed_ us. Me. They betrayed me, and by default they betrayed you too and risked everything we’ve worked for. Your safety, mine, Jyn’s. I don’t know how you can stand there and not do as I’ve kriffing asked you knowing that.”

Galen never loved him. It was all in Krennic’s mind as some fantasy he’d allowed to fester and grow like a disease over the years. They had been friends once but not since Galen had seen Krennic for who he truly was—not since the Empire. It was only pretense on Galen’s part, only for Jyn. Now, for the Rebellion. For Lyra’s legacy.

Krennic motioned up in the air with his pistol, signaling the guards that something was about to happen. “Kill them and confine Erso to quarters with a guard,” he said blandly. “There, I’ve solved the issue. Someday, I hope you’ll thank me.”

His breath hitched as he watched Krennic turn on his heel, cape swirling behind him, and the sound of blasters behind him, dropping each body to the floor of the lab. Galen couldn’t bring himself to look or he’d break down entirely. He already fell down to his knees and felt broken into a dozen pieces on the floor with the guilt and despair that washed over him. For the Rebellion…

\--

The Tognath’s name was Benthic and she barely saw him up close before he shoved a black bag over her head. That would make it hard for her to know where she was going, unless she tried to do something ridiculous like count the footsteps, which wasn’t going to work anyway once they got into a speeder. She couldn’t be bothered to try. Cassian would follow—she trusted him.

It gave her more time to formulate her plan and consider possible outcomes. She had done things like this with Cassian and even Chirrut before but Saw Gerrera was different. That was going to be a variable she couldn’t predict. The Rebellion simultaneously called him an extremist and a hero, while to the Empire, he was a terrorist.

She had seen his handiwork in NiJedha in the form of wrecked and abandoned Imperial armatures and equipment strewn by the side of the road, but why Jedha? Surely he could have caused more damage striking the Empire at its core, maybe even on Coruscant itself. Aside from the Kyber temple, Jedha didn’t have anything of interest, and the temple itself had been almost entirely destroyed by now. What was so important about it now that they had to keep fighting?

None of her escort party talked, but she could hear the mass of footsteps around her as they marched her and Chirrut somewhere outside of the city. They entered a building of some kind made mostly of stone because she could hear the echo of their movements. She wanted to hear more of it, to try to get a layout in her head as much as possible, but she was just as suddenly the bag was ripped off of her head, tossing her hair around her face.

Benthic’s language that filtered through his life support system was beyond Jyn, but she couldn’t imagine whatever he’d said had been pleasant at all. Nothing about Benthic seemed pleasant as he shoved her to the side and out of the way where he wanted her.

Jyn set her jaw, balling up a fist at her side, but it was Chirrut’s hand on her arm next to her that stopped her.

“Doesn’t it have a helmet on? It’s not worth breaking your hand,” Chirrut said, a smile playing at his lips. The way that he could tell exactly what was going on even without seeing it when he shouldn’t have been able to hear it either sometimes drove Jyn a little mad. It was as if Chirrut was able to read emotions as well. That was why he was good—and probably why he was still alive.

The Tognath was less than pleased by it though and he grabbed a handful of Jyn’s jacket, threatening to start up the whole conflict again. But as someone new came into the room, Benthic did let go of her, fortunately before she could hit him.

“Newcomers?” the man asked. “From the village?”

Benthic nodded, stepping back to give more of a view. The man was dressed in simple robes, hands held one on top of the other at waist height as he walked forward. He reminded Jyn of a furry, stocky animal with his hair long and some of it braided and the greying beard on his face. He was a visual contrast to Chirrut who remained at her side with his shortly cropped black hair and clean face.

With his focus solely on Chirrut, maybe they weren’t so far apart. “ _You_ ,” the man said.

Chirrut’s smile grew. “Me,” he echoed lightly. “You shouldn’t act so surprised to see me, Baze Malbus.”

Even if Chirrut was amused by the situation, Jyn’s unease was only growing. She nudged him with her elbow. “You know him?” she whispered. 

“I do..” However, any explanation was cut short by as a third person who almost seemed to peak at them from around Baze as if he was hiding behind him.

Baze acknowledged him first, clapping a hand on the young man’s shoulder. He was maybe he was Jyn’s age, maybe a little older, though taller and thinner and skin tan like the natives of Jedha.  She barely had a chance to look in his eyes though before the warmth against her heart almost became unbearable. 

Jyn nearly yelped in surprise at the heat, grasping at her necklace to pull it out from under her shirt and get at the kyber crystal at the end of it.  Vaguely, she had noticed it warming up, but it wasn't until it became hot enough to make her skin turn red that she became fully aware of it.  She held the necklace by its chain, staring at the crystal as it glowed orange with heat and energy.

The Jedha man squirmed too, nearly ripping a bracelet from his wrist to get the crystal off of his skin before it was overcome with heat. Instead of orange, his was glowing a light blue color and Jyn stared at it in shock, mirroring the alarm on his face.

“What-.. what’s going on?” he demanded. “How is this even happening!”

“The kyber are reacting,” Baze said. Even the calmness in his voice was barely masking excitement. “They have been apart for so long. Now you have been brought together.”

Jyn gripped the necklace tighter, looking from her crystal to his. “Who are you?” she demanded.

The man licked his lips. “Bodhi. Bodhi Rook. You?”

She was still caught between fight or flight with even the heat of the crystal enough to throw her into it. It was an unexpected hiccup on an assignment that was already complicated.

“Jyn Erso,” she replied.

“Wait, Erso—you know a _Galen_?” Bodhi asked.

Of course. She remembered the temple though she’d never been there before, but Galen certainly had. “You got that crystal from him, didn’t you?” she asked. “He’s my father.”

Bodhi clasped the chain and crystal close to his chest, almost seeming to draw courage from it. Maybe he didn’t know about her, but Galen had made a lasting impression on him if he’d kept the kyber around his wrist all of these years.

“Then, I’m here to help,” Bodhi said, at last.

\--

_“I want to go with you!”_

_Lyra crouched down, placing a sympathetic hand against the side of Jyn’s face before she drew her small daughter into her arms, rocking her gently. Jyn was five and leaving off-world to go anywhere was just beyond comprehension. Rather, she knew that Lyra was leaving, but the fact that it was necessary or that her mother would come back, was something else entirely._

_For her part, Lyra didn’t want to leave either. She leaned back, smoothing down Jyn’s hair. “I won’t be gone long, beloved. You need to stay here with Papa—keep him company so he doesn’t get lonely.”_

_Jyn rubbed at her face, not satisfied with the answer. “Want to go with you..”_

_It nearly broke Lyra’s heart. “I know, sweetheart.” She kissed her daughter’s forehead, but then as she thought about it, she reached for her necklace and took it off, clasping it again around Jyn’s neck._

_The crystal hung down low as it was too big for her, but Lyra placed her hand over it, pressing it against Jyn’s chest gently. “Take this. It will keep you safe. Then when I come home, you can give it back to me.”_

_Jyn reached down to pick the crystal up, looking over it carefully. She had seen it so many times around her mother’s neck and now it was hers. If she focused on it, perhaps she wouldn’t miss Lyra so much. She nodded in agreement._

_Galen smiled warmly at her and reached down to pick her up, settling her on his hip. “My little stardust. Let’s say goodbye to Mama.”_

_Still gripping the necklace with one hand as she leaned into Galen, she attempted to wave with her other arm. “Bye, Mama.”_


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last week was busy, I didn't get to write as much as I wanted to--but taking something to write during lunch at work has really paid off! I'm starting to explore some of my favorite scifi themes so that might be fun. I also didn't think I was going to get my cliffhanger in here but, seemed to work out anyway. Time for some shit to go down.

Chapter 4

_The droid was mostly blown to hell.  With the way that its head was limp and dented, and the way that its arm was barely hanging on by a few wires, it might be functional but probably not.  Black security paint was chipped and scarred everywhere and the droid's main torso housing had another large dent.  It was slumped over, blinding staring at the floor with its round eyes lifeless, resting against more scrap metal to be sent through the incinerator._

_7221 couldn't take his eyes off of it.  He'd worked with the KX series several times before--they were powerful enforcers with all of their robotic strength, but they were just droids.  It was just metal to be recycled; it wasn't as if it had an organic brain.  Or even a personality, for that matter._

_It only did as it was programmed.  If it had been programmed to protect its organic counterparts, then it would smash an assailant against a wall to stop an attack.  If it had been programmed to not take its helmet off even when ordered, then it would not take its helmet off even when ordered. It was just a droid._

_He felt the weight of his helmet on his head as he looked at the droid's dented head attachment, hanging to one side, and he felt the bruise forming across his shoulder where the droid had thrown an arm against him, knocking him back so he wasn't hit by incoming blaster fire.  It hit the droid instead._

_There was no purpose in being in the scrap recycling room other than that was where his feet took him as soon as he was dismissed from duty. There was a green-skinned Vaporian with large bulbous eyes that shoved another load of scrap metal into the incinerator, ignoring the deathtrooper standing in the scrap room and having a slight existential crisis while staring at a droid._

_Finally pushing himself into action, 7221 walked closer to the droid and looked over at the Vaporian.  “I need this one for parts,” he said.  It wasn’t very convincing though.  For parts.. what would he do with parts._

_The Vaporian, for its part, looked startled as 7221 spoke.  It was one thing to have a stormtrooper--or a deathtrooper--there in its scrap room, and another to have to interact with him.  The trooper could take what he wanted certainly.  It wasn't as if the Vaporian was going to stop him._

_"It's yours," the creature said, scooping up another armful of scrap._

_His.  That was different.  7221 didn't have many personal possessions that were just his by choice, and droids themselves were such a premium item._

_The main housing of the droid was so heavy that he had to use a cart to take it out of the scrap room. Of course, KX’s were built like that to take a lot of damage. Certainly this one had._

_He had to protect what was his now. If anyone found it, they would likely take it straight back to the incinerator room. His locker in the barracks was too small and too public but there was a storage room though—no one used it heavily as far as he could tell. It seemed too easy to just shove a scrapped droid into a storage room and hope no one found it. He had to be smarter than that. 7221 had never hidden anything so big from the Empire._

_To his luck, there was a crate with a lock mechanism in the back of the storage room that was still open. He dumped the droid inside—with its arm finally falling off of the few wires that were holding it on. Fixing the body would take time, but it was making sure that the data and memory circuits were still intact. If that wasn’t salvageable, then the whole effort would be worthless._

_The last thing 7221 pulled out of the droid’s damaged head module were the circuit boards and memory bank. Then he locked it up, changing the combination on the crate so no one else could get in. It would be his secret now._

_7221 wasn’t a droid programmer, but he’d repaired things before. Ships, mostly, and weapons. Sometimes droids though. Sometimes ship computers, which at least required some programming skills. Waking up at night and working in the dark on a low lit datapad under a blanket on his bed so no one would catch him in the barracks, he had all the time in the universe to work on his project and bring_ his _droid back to life._

\--

They had been able to track Jyn out of Jedha City with relative ease by just staying back and watching. Once the partisans left the city, even in taking creative routes across the Jedha wasteland and avoiding being out in the open, they were the only lifeforms within miles, making them ultimately easy to track.

Cassian had found a good vantage point on top of a ridge, laying against a rock as cover and using it to prop up his elbows to support the binoculars he was looking through to take stock of the old temple building below. Gerrera must be heavily entrenched there. It wasn’t going to be easy to get in with no cover leading up to the entrance.

Behind him, K-2 was sitting on another rock, looking awkward at the way its long legs were folded up and out to the sides rather than in front like an organic. But its hip joints didn’t rotate that way so instead it looked even more gangly.

“Do you know the odds of this succeeding?” K-2 asked, breaking the silence.

He didn’t even look away from his binoculars. “I don’t want to hear it.”

It never stopped the droid though. It had circuits of its own—it always had, ever since it had woken up again at Cassian’s insistence. “It’s too low to calculate.”

“K..” he said in a warning tone.

“Much too low.”

Cassian lowered the binoculars finally, resting them on top of the rock. His helmet was placed on top of the sand next to his knees. “I told you I didn’t want to hear it. You were supposed to stay with the ship anyway.”

At least it made the droid quiet down for a short period of time. Maybe if he could find a side way in—but the temple was surrounded by rock. Without blowing a hole in it, the best way in was the front. He’d still have to blast his way in. Though, Cassian had gotten into more secure places than that before with Jyn. Only this time, she was on the inside, not with him. That put the urgency to getting her out.

“Besides, now your priorities have shifted since you kissed _her_ and that’s very bad,” K-2 said.

That was it. Cassian grabbed his helmet and shoved it on before turning to face the droid. “No, you listen,” he said, pointing a finger at it. “You keep your circuits quiet about that. No one knows. Got it?”

K-2 looked straight back at him. It tolerated Jyn and Jyn tolerated it in the sense that she never reported that TX-7221 had reprogrammed a droid and that it was one verbal miscalculation away from blowing all of it up in the air just by saying the wrong thing to somebody. Droids didn’t talk back, but K-2SO did.

“This fraternization-..” K-2 paused in mid-sentence, eyes still boring into Cassian, but it didn’t need to have a human expression to show that its attention had suddenly been drawn away. It straightened up, turning more alert. “Receiving transmissions that destroyer over Jedha City is withdrawing and they’re evacuating all Imperial personal.” It looked again at Cassian. “Does that mean us?”

Cassian froze in place at the news and then looked back toward Jedha city as if he was going to see the destroyer crawling out of the atmosphere and into space but it was too far away. No, he knew exactly what that meant.

He sprang into action, throwing his binoculars at K-2, which the droid caught against his chest, and he grabbed his rifle. “We need to go, K, _now_.”

K-2 climbed back to its feet, watching the flurry of activity. “That isn’t Jyn Erso’s signal, is it?”

“No, it’s worse. Much worse,” Cassian said quickly. “Get back to the ship and be ready. Go now!”

He didn’t even wait to see if the droid followed his orders before he started heading down the hill. Empty approach or not, he was going to hit the main doors with as much force as he had because he wasn’t about to leave Jyn behind. As he ran, he risked a look upward so see if it was visible in the sky.

\--

The crystals had stopped reacting after the initial rush of being thrown together in close proximity, but Jyn still held hers tightly in her hand.  She had lived around kyber crystals her entire life--she knew much of their complexities and structure, and sometimes their secrets.  She had never met anyone else who had a kyber crystal, much less been around one that reacted like that.

Bodhi was another matter.  Chirrut had to get her into the stronghold somehow and that involved rubbing shoulders with the target.  They had pulled off assignments like this before with the three of them; Jyn, Chirrut and Cassian.  They got inside and blasted their way out.  It never seemed as though it would work, but it did.  Only she hadn’t expected to find such a personal connection. 

“How did you know my father?” she questioned.  She’d never heard of anyone called Bodhi; it wasn’t someone Galen had ever told her about.  He’d spoken of Jedha, of gathering the crystals, of various other trips, and it wasn’t as if Bodhi was classified.

“From well, here.  Jedha,” Bodhi said.  “From the crystals at the temple.  He’d come to see them, at least until the Empire took all of the crystals.”  She wasn’t sure if she made Bodhi nervous or if that was just his nature, but she’d never met anyone who played with his hands and stumbled over words quite like that.  But she’d been raised where that behavior was conditioned out of anyone who exhibited it.

The crystals.  Galen’s life work.  Which of course partially explained why Bodhi had one in his possession.  She had to focus on the mission, not be sidetracked by unknown sides of her father. 

"He spoke about Jedha," she said neutrally; she still had to make nice.  "I've never been here before--it's been too dangerous lately."

Bodhi smiled weakly back at her.  The nerves showing again. "You look like you can handle yourself though, which-.. I'm sure you can."

Did she?  Jyn had always been small and she disguised herself well, wearing clothes that were loose and easy to move in. Even her blaster was concealed somehow past Saw's guards, though no one had searched her and her baton was slipped in a holder on her belt.  Did Bodhi really know anything about her?

"You said you're here to help--.."

His face lit up a little as he was called to action, though it didn't steady his nervous as the energy around him was still high.  Jyn had learned how to feel for those things, having to know when someone might pull a blaster and start shooting. "Yes," Bodhi said.  "You know, get your father out.  That's why you're here, isn't it?" 

That brought her to a full stop.  She looked at Chirrut and the large animal of a man in monk's robes, Baze.  Chirrut, what had you done?  What had Galen done?

"Jyn Erso."  She paused again as she heard her name, hand resting lightly on her baton.  It was Gerrera.  Or what was left of him; he seemed to be more machine than man now with stubs of mechanical feet and the life support armor giving him a bulky, oversized silhouette.  Given the abnormal way that he moved and his white-streaked hair growing wildly off of his head, the whole image was startling even if her logical mind said that he was not a threat given the damage to his body.

"Jyn Erso," he repeated, staring at her in awe.  "There you are!  How long it's been since we last saw each other."

It disarmed her almost immediately.  No one had looked at her like that before, as if she was made of gold and he'd waited his whole life to see her.  She took a step back.  How would she contact Cassian?  "Have we met?" she asked, reaching to keep her focus.

"The last time I saw you, I held you in my arms, and your little hand wrapped around this finger."  He held up his pinky, stepping into the space that she had abandoned.

Her world began to turn upside down.  She couldn't have known this man.  She was a loyal citizen of the Empire, and her father was loyal.  Her family didn't know this terrorist.  It had to be just a tactic to lure her in--did they know exactly who she was?

Gerrera's voice softened as he approached further.  Jyn tried to step back but she was too caught up by his intensity.  "You look like your mother.  I knew her years ago."

"It was people like you who killed her!" Jyn snapped at him. She was better than this, she knew it.  She had trained to steel herself and not to give in.  It wasn't as if they were pulling her toenails out, but instead it was a different kind of torture for which she hadn't been prepared.

Saw actually looked hurt and he placed a hand over his chest, though then he reached for the oxygen mask hanging from one of the life support tubes.  Focus.  Gerrera was vulnerable. "Oh, no, my child.. the Empire killed your mother."

"They couldn't have."  She tightened her hand around her baton, but she hesitated, part of her wanting to hear what he was would say next.

"She was one of us."

Jyn drew the baton, swinging it toward Gerrera's face on one immediate stroke, the blow never landed as she was pulled back with the arms of Saw's soldiers wrapped around her neck and shoulders to paralyze her.  Gerrera himself never even flinched.

He shook his head slowly and deliberately.  "You, of all people, sent here to kill me," he said in astonishment.  "You don't even know who you are, Jyn!"

\--

_The compound on Nebacet was too well guarded for a frontal assault, or even a flanking movement. It was just that the rebels were too well entrenched. Certainly if they went in with full force, with walkers and ground troops, they could raze the whole complex, but they would also have plenty of losses along the way. No, it could be done a lot more smoothly and with less casualties._

_While the freedom fighters launching attacks on Imperial shipments in the system claimed to be part of the overall rebellion, the Nebacet compound were little more than a trade gang. They were a nuisance with a large stick that needed to be wiped out._

_No one assumed anything about Chirrut as he walked along at Jyn’s side with his staff to feel the ground in front of him and Jyn herself posed as a trader looking to do business, along with good credentials and a believable story. That was Chirrut’s doing. If there was somewhere to get in, he would get them in._

_They were already in position at the edge of the main command center, if it could be called that, of the installation. Nebacet was a temperate forest planet with old, and often times abandoned, buildings scattered outside of its main cities that often saw groups that took them over to use as bases of operation or headquarters. In this case, these rebels had turned a large, stone greatroom into a scanning operation, looking for the next Imperial ships to come into the area. It was almost a shame that such an old building was likely going to be mostly destroyed._

_“What did you do with Cassian?” she whispered to Chirrut._

_The man tapped his staff on the ground and lift his chin up some, listening to their surroundings. “You will see. I would say trust me, but I know you don’t trust anyone.”_

_“Especially not you,” she said dryly._

_Chirrut just smiled instead._

_“A stormtrooper!” It echoed down the hall and into the greatroom as they brought him in like an armored beast, holding his weapons up in the air, with his hands bound together in front of him. First and second mistakes. “We found a stormtrooper! Just one—look at all of this!”_

_“Just one? Where are the others?” someone else questioned._

_It was a good question though. Jyn didn’t have to look at 7221 to know that it was time. She grabbed the thermal detonator from where it was compactly hidden in her boot and armed it before she threw it across the room. That was the signal. Chirrut threw a smoke bomb on the floor around them, distracting and choking some of the nearby rebels, and 7221 charged into the man holding his weapons with his shoulder, taking them both to the ground._

_Now they would get to work._

_Exterminating the threat didn’t come easy, but it happened, and once they were all wiped out, 7221 placed charges inside the building to make sure it couldn’t be used again. The trade routes were secure. The only casualty had been the shrapnel that cut open Jyn’s side, leaving blood to blossom along the side of her shirt and jacket._

_It wasn’t anything life-threatening, but Cassian was still seeing to the wound as carefully as he could once they were onboard the shuttle. She knew him well enough to know that his mouth was set in a dissatisfied line not just because of the injury. That was one of the reasons she asked him to remove his helmet, which was resting on the floor next to the medical kit._

_She sat still as he applied the bacta patch after a thorough cleaning. “Cassian,” she said, catching his attention. “What is it?”_

_He met her eyes but only for a moment as he went back to sealing the patch to her skin, then he leaned back, seeming as if he wasn’t going to answer her at all. He would, though. “This could have been a lot worse.”_

_Jyn actually smiled at that. “My uncle won’t even know about it; he won’t be upset with you.”_

_“No,” Cassian said, folding his arms across his chest armor. “Not him. Îmwe. I didn’t like this. I didn’t like any of it.”_

_Not only was it about Chirrut, but it was a personal opinion about him. The plan itself had been shaky, she did admit that, and it put a lot of faith in the blind man. Cassian was often much more by the book, though he was starting to take more risks and make more decisions to do unorthodox things._

_She shrugged one shoulder in response to it. “We didn’t have a choice—it wasn’t as if we could attack them from the outside. We had to get in first, or we never would have gotten in at all, they would have stopped us.”_

_“It put too much at risk.” He looked up again at her, locking her in an intense gaze where she felt as though she was the center of his world. It put her at risk, she thought._

_The realization made her pause as if she had a small glimpse into what he really was thinking and not saying. But then it was gone again. She issued another cocky smile and patted his cheek, both in play, but also to touch him and gain his attention more, if possible. “That’s why I have you.”_

_Buttoning her shirt again and pulling on her jacket, she stood up first, stepping around him. “Besides, we pay Chirrut. He can’t get paid if the mission goes south.”_

_\--_

Krennic swept through the gathering of officers in the command center to reach the front of the column and the massive viewscreen looking down over the moon Jedha. The view of the planet itself was breathtaking, in full sensor color showing everything from the glow of the atmosphere to the subtle changes of browns in the vast deserts. The recently recalled destroyer wasn’t in view anymore either, having taken up position nearby the weapon. The glory of seeing his project finished and looking down on a planet for the first time from _his_ Death Star was rather diminished by the presence of Tarkin standing ahead of him.

“Now that your people have finally finished in some form of a schedule, we are presented with a test,” Tarkin said, turning his head just slightly so he didn’t have to face Krennic.

The director resisted, barely, the urge to scowl at the back of Tarkin’s skull. “We have conducted tests,” he said. “None of them you’ve seen because you were never here. Sir.”

“No? I’ve been occupied with other duties, thinking that you could handle yourself here, Director.” Tarkin turned to look back at him this time, hands clasped behind his back, and standing several inches taller than Krennic. Another reason to despise him. “From your security problems and the plague of issues following this project, evidently not.”

In all of his service with the Empire, Krennic had never hit another officer, superior or otherwise.  But he wanted to now.  Tarkin enjoyed the drama because for all of his subordination--supposedly subordination--he could have been terminated years ago, and for Krennic's part he only put up with the treatment for the sake of his projects.

"In fact," Tarkin continued.  "I am taking over this project immediately."

"Years I've spent building _my achievement_ and now you stand to make it your own!”

“You underestimate your importance to this project--..”

“This is my project!” Krennic bellowed.

Tarkin shut him down with an icy, tight-lipped glare.  “This was never _your_ project.  You were brought in to design and build—this was _my_ creation.”  With an arm outstretched, he motioned to the image of Jedha before them.  “Jedha has been evacuated.  Order the test.”

Krennic seethed hotter than crystal reactor core.  He would show Tarkin the true power of this weapon.  “And should I destroy the entire planet?”

“The city will suffice," Tarkin said blandly, countering Krennic's rage with coldness instead.

The city.  He could destroy more than just a city.  Krennic walked toward the viewscreen, standing out in front of Tarkin, where he belonged. But the thought struck him so suddenly that his foot hadn’t even reached the ground on his next step and he paused in mid-air for just a moment before he placed his foot down.

Tarkin said the evacuation had been issued, the destroyer had rocketed off into space from the planet’s atmosphere, and he’d heard the orders himself. Jyn. He hadn’t heard from Jyn.

“I still have people down there,” he said, trying to keep the alarm out of his voice.

“They heard the evacuation order well enough,” Tarkin replied.

Krennic turned back and looked at him, eyes boring holes in his body once again. To say that he’d sent his niece down to Jedha and he hadn’t heard back from her wasn’t going to help his situation at all. He’d look weak. Caring for one girl when the future of his weapons project was at stake.

Tarkin raised a brow at him impatiently and he knew the next words out of the man’s mouth would be more power taken away from him. Which weighed more, his own power or Jyn Erso.

“Target the city,” Krennic ordered. “Single reactor ignition.”

Jyn should have heard the evacuation order, she should be out--he hated to admit that Tarkin was right, but as the weapon charged, the feeling in his chest that she was still down there tightened further.  It was accompanied with the thought that Galen should be here at his side.

Galen Erso, still confined to quarters.  Krennic would have to deal with that when he returned but he hated that Galen was not there with him at the final test of both of their lifetimes' work.  If Galen could witness the power of the battlestation, he would understand.  He would understand everything.

The laser blast from the weapon only took a moment but the destruction that followed of the city seemed to slow down, pluming up into space as if it was going to come through the viewscreen at them.  All thoughts of Jyn on the surface were wiped out of Krennic's mind as he saw the beauty of his destruction and he felt like a giant looking down on it.  He was a god and he had just wiped out a city on a whim.

"Oh.." he said.  "It's _beautiful_."

\--

So she had met Saw Gerrera and now she was kneeling on the floor in chains. What struck her more though was that Chirrut was not. He got away with a lot because of his blindness—no one suspected him—but was this really part of his plan? Someone had told Gerrera exactly who she was and Chirrut was the only option. One of the few times she gave in and trusted, willing or unwillingly, would that really be the end?

Jyn twisted her wrists around the binders, testing for any room, but she would only rub her wrists raw and it would take too much effort to get enough blood to make them slippery. She had been foolish to let this happen and her only hope to get out was herself because there was no way she’d be able to contact Cassian on the outside. He’d been right.. she never should have agreed to it.

The young Jedha man, Bodhi, had been left to guard her, looking uncomfortable with a blaster pistol in his hand. “How can she not be one of us, she’s his daughter,” he whispered to the monk.

Gerrera had disappeared after the struggle, leaving her to simmer in the anger and rage of being caught, but she wasn’t alone. Bodhi, guarding, the monk Baze was there watching and Chirrut sitting on a box on the other side of the room. They were watching him too, but not like her.

Baze avoided looking at her. “She has brought us a heart of kyber,” he replied quietly to Bodhi.

“I can hear you, you know,” Jyn called out to them.

Bodhi held the pistol in front of his body, grasping his wrist with his other hand. She doubted he’d ever fired that pistol. “Your father—he had to tell you, right? You know about all of this, don’t you?”

He glanced at Chirrut, as if he was looking for clarification, not that the blind man should know to answer but Chirrut always seemed to pick up on it. “I don’t know what she knows and doesn’t know. It’s not my place to ask.”

“No, you just take the Empire’s money instead,” Baze replied.

“Wait a minute.” It could just be another tactic, like the ones Gerrera was trying to unsettle her. She _knew_ her father. He was loyal. Wasn’t he? Sometimes, some of the things he said—sometimes he questioned. Sometimes he encouraged her to question. After all, she wasn’t a stormtrooper. “What is this that I’m supposed to or not supposed to know about?”

The monk looked at Bodhi, raising an eyebrow at him in silent conversation, making the younger man shift again uncomfortably on his feet. No one said anything. That figured. She wasn’t one of them—they couldn’t give her something to use.

Chirrut, though; he may not have the same loyalties. She didn’t know what he had anymore. He wasn’t as black and white. “Perhaps we—you—are on the wrong side,” Chirrut said quietly.

Jyn’s anger flared up again. She had managed to get herself calm enough to try to think and now he held the full extent of her cornered rage again. But then it was Gerrera again. He seemed to disappear and then reappear when the time was right. Another tactic. Only show his prisoners, or his followers, as much of him as he wanted them to see and be mysterious for the rest.

She lifted her head quickly though, drawn to Gerrera and she refused to let him speak first. “You’re wrong,” she declared. He looked at her in interest and amplified confusion, motioning for her to continue. “I do know who I am. I know who my father is. Maybe it’s true and you knew him once, but not anymore because I know who _you_ are and he’s not like you at all.”

“Do any of us really know who we are?” he asked. Of course he would say something cryptic like that. Couldn’t rebels give a straight-forward bloody answer.

“Cut the shab, Gerrera. Either kill me or let me go. The wise and enlightened Rebel leader thing has already gotten old,” Jyn said impatiently.

Saw’s face seemed to soften, at least for a madman. The way he looked, the way he acted, he had to be mad, and she didn’t trust his gentleness. “Is that what you want? To die as a martyr—a statement of what the Rebellion is and solidifying your worth to the Empire?” He shook his head, frowning at her. “No, child. My purpose is to enlighten you too. The Rebellion is in your blood and in your heart.”

He set a hologram projector on the floor in front of her. “Let me show you.”

“I don’t care what you have to show me, it’s not going to change my mind,” she said, staring up at him more out of stubbornness than defiance. Maybe she didn’t really know how to be defiant with all of her years of following orders and the illusion that sometimes she got to decide in the direction of her life.

The projector on the floor sprung to life, displaying her father straight in front of her. Anything could be used to create an image of Galen, but it wasn’t until he started talking that she knew he had sent the message himself. She knew his voice, and that took most of her fight away.

The way he talked about the Empire, about his project, and her. Mostly about her. There were so many things about her father she suddenly didn’t know. He was the man who raised her and taught her how to be—was it even possible that she didn’t know? She thought she knew everything about him. Even listening to his words, her mind raced to find discrepancies.

_“You don’t like them, Papa?”_

_Galen’s gaze followed hers over to the stormtrooper standing guard at the edge of the workspace, though his smile directed at her remained soft. It was hard to tell what the stormtrooper was looking at unless he moved his head, but his helmet was still, transfixed in the same spot. Jyn didn’t think he was looking at them._

_“It’s not really a matter of like or dislike, stardust. I don’t think he’s necessary here when it’s only us,” Galen explained as he turned his focus back down at the holotable._

_“What if there was trouble?” Jyn marched straight over to the trooper, standing up tall in front of him, though her head only came up to his chest. She adjusted her head the rest of the way to look up at him._

_“With just the two of us here, there should not be any trouble,” Galen said reasonably._

_“There might be spies.” Jyn folded hers arms, planting herself in front of the stormtrooper with the same way that he was settled into his guard spot. “Uncle Orson says they have to do anything we tell them to—they can’t say no.”_

_“Jyn..” She recognized the warning tone from Galen, but she also recognized that there was no heat behind it because she hadn’t actually done anything yet. It rarely stopped her first._

_She pointed with emphasis, drawing on all of the authority she had seen from her uncle. If she was going to issue orders, they were going to be followed. “March to that corner.”_

_The trooper paused, as if considering if he really had to follow the order, but he shifted, coming up to attention from where he had been looking down at her. “Ma’am.” He started to walk down to the corner with purpose given to him by a little girl._

_“Jyn,” Galen said more sharply. “Come here. Leave him alone.”_

_“Papa.. it’s just fun! I won’t make him do anything stupid…”_

_She knew it was serious when Galen left his workstation to approach her and she bit her lip, looking up at him. Had she really done the wrong thing? It was just a stormtrooper._

_“Listen to me.” Galen’s face was no longer soft but maybe a little disappointed. She hated that look. He had it often around her uncle and she wished that her father would see things like Uncle Orson. The world made so much more sense that way._

_He motioned toward the trooper. “Listen. He is not a droid; he is a person. He is a man underneath that armor. You treat him like one. He is not here for you to order around, no matter what Krennic says. We treat people-…”_

_“As we want to be treated,” she continued. “I know, Papa.” Without seeing their faces, sometimes it was easy to forget that there was a person inside the white armor._

The hologram disappeared. Jyn looked up at Gerrera, hating that he would see the weakness of the tears in her eyes and fully expecting to see judgment looking back at her. There was no judgment. There wasn’t even the worse look of compassion. Just expectation.

“Now you see,” he said. “Galen Erso has decided on his path and stands with the rest of us against destruction and hatred. But you—what will you do when you go back to them?”

Vaguely, Jyn was aware that the ground was starting to shake but all she could see was the hologram image of her father in front of her and the words coming out of his mouth. Her name. The Death Star. The destruction that would surely rain down on millions of innocent people. She didn’t—this wasn’t the peace that they were trying to build. It wasn’t the peace she was fighting for; it was a lie.

Some of Saw’s soldiers darted in and out behind him, running around amidst the shaking of the building. Dust came down from the walls and parts of the ceiling cracked. But the shaking was so in line with the pounding of her heart that it still hadn’t worked its way up to her brain as a priority.

And Gerrera, for his part, stood still with eyes locked on hers. “What will you become, Jyn?” he asked. “Now that you know the truth.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, time for this stuff.

Chapter 5

It was too late.

By the time the ground started shaking and the walls of the fortress began to tremble under the weight of the ancient stone building, it was far too late. Bodhi had never known Jedha in all of his years to have seismic activity and if that kind of power wasn’t generated organically then…

His instinct was to find cover and stay there until the world went still again but another part of his more logical mind said that it wouldn’t stop. It also said run.

Dust came down from the ceilings as the stones moved at first but the tremors were only getting more intense with pieces breaking off and shattering. Pieces of the walls were starting to give out. Much like the kyber temple, the fortress in the desert was old and seemingly fragile. All it took was shifting the earth to start it crumbling.

Bodhi ducked aside, nearly getting hit by a piece of falling rock. Gerrera’s partisans were in chaos. Benthic and Edrio, the two Tognath, were already ushering others outside with some grabbing equipment and running toward the entrance. Everything else was abandoned.

“What’s going on!” he called out, ducking again as an unstable wall fell, taking some of the ceiling with it nearby. “What about Saw?”

It caught Benthic’s attention, but only for a moment as he barely stopped to even look up at Bodhi. “If he doesn’t come, he’s on his own,” he said—at least that was what Bodhi translated from Benthic’s language.

They were just willing to leave Saw and save themselves? Wasn’t he their leader? Baze brushed past Bodhi’s shoulder, encouraging him to move.

“We need to get out,” Baze said quickly. “Chirrut!” Picking up a staff, he tossed it toward the blind man, who caught it easily by snatching it out of the air.

There were bigger priorities with the fortress they were in trembling and threatening to collapse around them, but it also occurred to Bodhi that he didn’t really know who the blind man was—other than his name. He was just the man who came in with Jyn. She’d turned out to be an Imperial agent too and not there on behalf of her father, like he’d imagined.

Jyn.

“Wait, we can’t just leave without Jyn!” Bodhi didn’t pause to think about it or he wouldn’t have done it at all, but he turned and ran toward the room where Gerrera had taken her—further into the collapsing fortress.

\--

It seemed like they hadn’t even moved since he’d last seen them. If Saw had shown her the hologram of Galen, that had to be why. She hadn’t known about any of it. Galen hadn’t sent her there—she wasn’t part of the rescue effort at all but instead something different.

But right now with all of their lives in danger, it didn’t matter. Jyn carried a kyber crystal just like Bodhi did and she was Galen Erso’s daughter. He wasn’t going to leave her behind.

As Bodhi charged in, Saw turned to look at him sharply, almost threateningly for interrupting them. Bodhi put his hands up in a neutral position. Oh don’t kill him now. He hadn’t come this far to give up.

“Jyn—Jyn, we need to go now. The whole place is coming down-…” He trailed off, looking over Jyn’s shoulder for the first time at a window directed at NiJedha. “Oh, Force…”

It was the city. Or it had been the city in the distance, but now it was a pillar of dust and destruction and it was as if the planet itself was actually wounded to have felt it out this far. It wasn’t just the city; it was that the city was _gone_.

Saw’s face hardened as he saw it too. “You must go,” he said. “Our time has come.”

Bodhi reached for her arm, pulling her to her feet and praying that he didn’t have to drag her out of the temple. Instead, she finally found her feet, starting to rush with him past Saw, then she stopped suddenly, pulling Bodhi with her as their arms were still joined by Bodhi’s hand gripping her. “Wait. Gerrera? You have to come. We have to go!”

He turned to face them, thumping his stick on the ground as he made no hurry to walk. “No, child. There is no more running from this. Now it is your time.”

“We.. we don’t have _time_ for this,” Bodhi protested, tugging on her arm. It hurt to leave the man behind. Saw was willing to die there. It was his choice. They had an important reason to live, didn’t they?

Jyn looked pained by it, not wanting to leave someone either, but she didn’t stay. She listened to Bodhi’s urging and started to move again.

Saw still walked after them, but not with the intent to make it to the ships. He wanted to stay behind in the walls and be absorbed by them. Let Jedha take him. Still, he called out after her.

“The Rebellion is a dream!” Gerrera’s voice echoed through the fortress even as they ran. “And you are a child of hope!”

\--

Unexpectedly, Cassian did not have to bust through a fortified door or risk running across open land to get to the enemy stronghold. The door was already open. It might have something to do with the hurricane of dust and debris ripping up the terrain behind him headed straight in their direction. It was moving fast, but it still had ground to cover and if Cassian could get in quickly and get to Jyn, they might be able to get out.

If he couldn’t, there would be no point in coming back anyway.

He ran in past three or four partisans who were making a dash out of the fortress and toward the ships that he’d seen at the edge of one of the caves in the rock face outside, none of whom even noticed that a stormtrooper had just headed inside past them. It wasn’t until he was already in the fortress before one of them tried to stop him.

A being with a larger than human mouth and leathery skin shouted in surprise, nearly running into him, and gripped its blaster rifle, swinging it toward Cassian’s head. Like most of the partisans not being concerned with him, Cassian wasn’t concerned with them either. They could have all passed each other. His priorities were further inside.

He ducked to avoid the blow and slammed the butt of his rifle into the partisan’s side, eliciting a howl of pain as it stumbled back. Another one came to its aid, hitting Cassian across his back with what ever heavy object it was carrying. He stumbled but swung his rifle to crack the creature in the face, managing to stay on his feet himself.

Neither attacker bothered with him again.  It was too much trouble and they were in too much of a hurry, which suited Cassian just fine.  As soon as he could, Cassian pushed on, dodging a piece of stone as it fell from the ceiling.  He only had a short amount of time before everything would be swallowed up by the shockwave but the fortress was not only already falling apart, but it was huge.  How was he supposed to find her?

She could already be gone.  They could have even killed her.

He tried not to think about it.  He had to hold onto hope that they could get out of this too.  Cassian pushed on ahead.  That's what Jyn was--she was his hope.

Another partisan yelled something at him in alarm but didn't try to stop him as he ran past, crossing into a room where he nearly ran into her.  He caught her by her forearms, feeling the fight within her as if she would spring out of his grip and take him down to the floor. “Jyn!”

He was just as surprised as she was but it startled the other man even more, as did the image of Cassian’s armor. He only had to look up now to see the pistol aimed at his chest and the Jedha man with wide, dark eyes and hair pulled back in a pony tail staring back at him.

They were in danger of the building collapsing around them or the ground opening up and swallowing them whole and the rebel still pulled a blaster on him.

Jyn reached out, putting her hand on the man’s arm to push the blaster down. “No, Bodhi, he’s with me.”

Cassian was certain from the look in Bodhi’s eyes that he had never shot anyone before, but he was also certain that he would have given the circumstances. He’d been prepared to do so just now, but hearing that Cassian was with her was enough to make him stand down. What exactly had been going on here?

There wasn’t time to deal with it though. The ground shuddered again and Jyn stumbled slightly, falling against his chest before she pushed herself up and pulled at his arm. “It’s about kriffing time, Cassian,” she said. “You better have a ship!”

“It’s coming,” he replied, turning to head back for the entrance. If they still had time to make it. 

\--

Jyn's first view of the destruction made her heart seize in her chest.  What had even happened here?  The partisans were panicking--leaving as fast as they could to get away from the massive shockwave in the desert.  Whatever had caused it had come upon them so quickly and silently, no one even had a chance for warning.

The thought crossed her mind that maybe this was the weapon that Galen had been talking about.  This might be the Death Star.

Cassian pushed her to keep moving, calling K-2 on his comlink.  "We need to get out, now!"

"For once, this is a planetary explosion that both of you did not cause," K-2 said, loud enough for Jyn to hear.  "The chance of survival is-.."

"Shut up and fly, K!" Cassian growled.

The droid was right though.  Even with the ship, they were going to cut it very close, if they weren't caught up in the turbulence of the rapidly moving debris.  She turned to look back toward the fortress--Bodhi wasn't beside her anymore.  He was stunned, as she had been, frozen in place and staring where the city had been and what was now just death headed at them.

"Bodhi!" she shouted, trying to urge him to move.  He hadn't left her behind; she didn't want to either.

He looked up at her, stunned, helpless, but Cassian kept moving, more intent with keeping just her alive.  They weren't going to make it if they went back for everyone.  But Chirrut, coming up behind the younger man, reached out blindly and grabbed his arm.

"Come on, Rebel, we don't die here today," he said.

Bodhi found his feet again, and his panic.  He took off, nearly crossing ahead of the blind man, but steering him more toward Baze who was motioning them on.  He looked up at Jyn, catching her eyes one last time before doubling his efforts and her own shuttle came into view.

Cassian jumped onto the ramp first but only so he could hold his hand out to her.  She didn't need it but it wasn't the time to protest as the ship never landed and shuddered nervously at the violent atmosphere around it.  When she was on, she closed the ramp, letting Cassian charge up to the cockpit.

"A twenty-three percent chance," K-2 said, craning its head back at them.

Jyn gripped one of the cargo straps on the wall to steady herself as they raced off at a breaking speed toward the edge of the cloud of dust.  "What are you even talking about?"

"Cassian didn't let me finish."  K-2 turned its eyes to the front.  "Those are our chance of escape."

More often than not, she didn't give much thought to the percentages and odds that the droid spat out at them.  That was what it had been programmed for initially; not protocol or service.  Combat and tactics.  But since Cassian had reprogrammed it, it had never been quite accurate.  Now, she thought, maybe it was.

Jyn kept her gaze out the window as if that would speed them along their way, willing them to escape death again.  It allowed her to see the partisan's ship rocketing out toward the edge of the atmosphere and she imagined Bodhi might be looking out he window at her in return.  She gripped her kyber crystal feeling its fading warmth and imagined one day she might see him again.

\--

Watching the shuttle zip off into hyperspace, narrowing avoiding being consumed by the cloud, finally left Gerrera alone.  He could have gone, have continued to lead his troops and maybe even made amends with the Alliance.  But he was tired of running--he was just tired. 

It was time.  His sister, Lyra, all those who had gone before--he could finally rest with them and see old friends and faces long gone.

Standing in the doorway of his Jedha stronghold, he spread his arms and closed his eyes, breathing the real air without his aided oxygen and living for a last few moments.

"Galen, my friend.  I have watered your seeds.  Now it is to you to see them grow."

Saw Gerrera washed away with the winds of Jedha and then the desert returned to silence.

\--

The silence carried onto the shuttle where the plume of dust failed to reach up into space after them from the planet’s surface. Jyn sat for what felt like ages watching the stars streak by outside the viewport on the side of the shuttle. It didn’t seem like she could truly process what she had just seen. When she still had so many questions for Gerrera, he was gone.

“I came as quickly as I could,” K-2 said at length, breaking the silence.

Now that the shuttle was in hyperspace, Cassian let go of the death grip he’d had on the controls and instead took his helmet off, resting it in his lap. “You did, K-2,” he replied. “You did a good job.” 

The droid sat still again in the wake of the praise, looking down at the cockpit controls. “And you did not get blown up. That is also a good job.”

Normally, it would have made Jyn smile but not now. Not after what they’d seen. Cassian didn’t even reply to it, though she saw him grip the droid’s shoulder as he got up, walking back toward her.

She squared her shoulders, turning to face him and trying to steel herself against the emotions still whirling around. “Where are we headed?” 

“Eadu,” he said. “It’s closest.” None of them knew what to say or how to go about it. She watched him fidget, start to take his gloves off. “Are you alright?”

Jyn almost laughed. Was she alright. No, certainly not. But she was alive and she at least thought she knew more truths than when she started out on Jedha. Climbing to her feet, she faced him, placing her hands on his arms and looking at the worried lines on his forehead. She wasn’t the only one who had been there—he was there too, he’d seen all of it. They shared their shock and trauma.

It was Cassian though who brought his hand to the back of her neck, giving her a reassuring squeeze as he kissed her. Jyn just wanted to dissolve into his arms, allow herself to be vulnerable and comforted. There wasn’t time for it though. Part of her still felt the urgency and anger of Jedha.

She allowed the kiss but then placed a hand on his chest, pushing him back to separate both of them by force. “Cassian, was that the Death Star?”

He didn’t answer. Jyn’s mood darkened considerably. It wasn’t just that he didn’t answer, it was the slight look of surprise on his face when she mentioned that name. “You _knew_ about it,” she accused.

The surprise disappeared and she could all but see him replacing his guard up in front of her as he worked his jaw muscles. “It was classified.”

“You _knew_!” This time she pushed him. “You knew about this the whole time and you never told me!”

“It was classified!” he shot back.

She felt the heat rising in her face like the explosion in the center of the shockwave cloud. “Did you know it was up there over us on Jedha?” she demanded.

“No!  No.”  Cassian clenched his hands into fists, but he didn’t act on it.  He stood still, at attention.  “I had no idea, not until--.. It was K-2, he picked up the evacuation orders.”  He moved closer to her again, breaking his rigid attention stance just to get to her.  “Then I had to get to you.”

 "You were stationed there," K-2 added.  "I thought you might want to know."

Jyn's face turned hard again.  She needed to face Krennic.  She needed to see her father.  She wanted to yell and scream and beat the wall because everything she had grown up knowing was wrong.   But it was Cassian who was in front of her.

"You should have told me!"  She hit his chest with her palm, needing an outlet or she might fully explode, and Cassian for his part, stood still and took the blow, however light it was, like a soldier.  He could easily grab and twist her arm to break it, he could throw her against the bulkhead, but he wouldn't move until ordered.  In that moment, she wanted someone around her to not be a soldier or a droid.  Maybe she wanted him to fight back because it was all an illusion anyway.

He didn't move.  She knew what he would say if she asked him anyway.  Orders.  It was always orders.

She turned away from him before she did something else.  "Just get us to Eadu."

He still didn't move.  Cassian should have gone back to the cockpit, but she could feel his eyes boring into her back.  Did she have to give an actual order now?

"What happened with Gerrera?" he asked.  Jyn paused.  There was no hesitation in his voice, but maybe concern.  It was a change--it was thought.

"That's not for you to know," she snapped.

He reached out and grabbed her arm, turning her to face him by force.  Her heart beat faster, but not out of fear.  She was never afraid of them because she didn't need to be--she was superior after all.  It had been ingrained in all of them.

"I want to know," he replied, his tone turning harder too. “He let you go.”

Because she could be a Rebel, right? What if she was? Her father was, apparently, and her mother. She had been loyal her whole life to something her family never believed in but taught her to trust and defend. She was loyal to a system that destroyed things because they were broken instead of fixing them; that turned good, whole people into machines; that had the power to destroy a planet because it didn’t agree with them? 

“What of it?” she challenged.

Cassian set his jaw. She should cut him some slack—he was trying to understand all of it too—but in that moment, it was hard to strip the Empire away from them. “I need to know where we stand.”

At least they were still ‘we’. Jyn reached up and touched the side of his face. She still wanted to hit something and take it all out on Krennic or anyone else who could be her target. She still needed to face her father. But Cassian. He was worth saving.

Maybe she was already thinking like a Rebel. Maybe Gerrera was right.

\--

_"What is_ that _."_

_It wasn't a question so much as a statement of surprise and possibly disapproval because 'that' as the KX droid at the helm of Jyn's shuttle.  It certainly hadn't been there before and she wasn't sure she liked it there at all._

_Cassian looked up from going over their supplies one more time before they left, looking unfazed despite Jyn's best efforts to look intimidating or at least annoyed.  Sometimes it was hard around him anymore when they had spent so much time together.  She didn't have to put on any faces around him, unless she wanted to, and Cassian, if she were honest, never really looked fazed by much of anything._

_If she were even more honest, she imagined there wasn't much that Cassian hadn't seen so he had his reasons for not being fazed._

_"It's a droid," he said._

_"I can see that, idiot.  What is it doing on my ship?"  She planted herself in front of him, folding her arms, giving Cassian no choice but to pay attention to her.  She would rather have his attention on her than anywhere else anyway._

_However, the droid.  As it turned back to look at her, beady round eyes staring at her, she swore that it actually looked offended despite that the droid had no facial expressions.  Those were for organic beings.  Droid's faces didn't even move._

_"I am here to see the success of your missions._ _At least, that is the idea..."_ _More sarcasm._ _How was it even possible for a droid to be sarcastic?_ _They did have some voice intonation but she had never heard one be what she thought to be so deliberately belligerent._

_Cassian gave it a sharp look and a hiss to knock it off, as if the droid was a misbehaving pet._ _"Sorry._ _He says whatever come into his circuits."_

_"There is nothing wrong with my circuits," the droid said quickly._

_"There is plenty wrong with your circuits--.."_

_"Cassian, answer my question," Jyn interrupted._

_He looked back at her, recognizing the order he needed to follow._ _"We--I thought we could use some backup sometimes," he said._ _While it was true, there were times that they really needed it, she could practically see his mind racing._ _Had he done the wrong thing?_ _Was this unacceptable?_

_Jyn wasn't sure yet._ _She didn't know what to make of he droid._ _It was an odd move for Cassian to do something so bold of his own free will._

_"Cassian, did you pick up a pet?_ _Is that what's going on?" she asked._ _"You could have just told me and I would have gotten you a wamprat or something."_

_The droid bristled at the comment and Jyn's mouth twitched just a little into a smirk._ _Maybe this could be fun._

_By the way that Cassian got to his feet to face her, she could tell he didn't think so._ _He didn't look amused._ _Stoic, if anything, maybe nervous that she would take the droid away._

_"I found it," he began._ _"In the scrap pile._ _I repaired it and had to do some reprogramming.."_

_She rolled her eyes._ _"Yes, this I can see."_

_"He's called K-2SO."_

_Cassian was trying to tell her something more, but she couldn't figure out what it was._ _Rescuing a droid of his own free will and probably hiding it to repair it._ _It was a tremendous risk without permission._ _He wanted her approval for it._ _He'd done something on his own and brought it to her._

_She had started this, hadn't she?_ _She had treated him like a person and now he saving a droid._

_"Well," she said, looking back at the droid._ _"We all hide things from the Empire, don't we?"_

_K-2 looked from Jyn to Cassian and then back again._ _"Good._ _Then you can convince him to give me a blaster."_

_Jyn's eyebrows shot straight up but Cassian just shrugged._ _"Programming... it was difficult."_

_"Not until you learn to control your mouth, Target Practice," Jyn said._

_"It is a good thing I don't have a mouth, then."_

\--

“Tell me about the city, Baze.”

Bodhi was the one sitting at the controls of the small, leftover cargo ship; the one that the partisans hadn’t taken when they finally got there. At least there had been a ship left. Almost as if someone had been watching out for them.

Baze made a soft hum, but he didn’t answer.

It took Bodhi a moment to think that Chirrut didn’t actually know since he was blind. He didn’t even know what he would do with them. Or any of it at all. It all happened so quickly that he didn’t even know where they were going, just.. not Jedha.

“Baze. Tell me,” Chirrut insisted.

Bodhi looked back at them, watching Baze’s shoulders slope as he kept his gaze out the window of the ship. They couldn’t see Jedha anymore. Just space.

“It’s gone.”

“All of it?”

Baze answered reluctantly. “All of it.”

The entire city and even further into the desert wiped out in by more power than several starships put together. That was their home—even Baze and Chirrut, they were from Jedha too. There would be no going back because there was nothing to go back to. The temple. Gerrera’s fortress. Homes, markets, schools, everything. Bodhi didn’t want to have to think about it, but he was forced too because there was nothing there and there was no avoiding it.

He’d gotten his family off of the planet even if anyone else Bodhi had ever known on Jedha was gone now, but his mother and sister wouldn’t even be safe with that weapon out there. Or the Empire at all. How did they even fight it? They seemed so small in the vastness of space next to the power to destroy a planet. It could wipe out the Rebellion in one swift stroke and that would just be the end.

“What do we even do now?” Bodhi asked aloud.

Chirrut shifted, gripping his walking staff with both hands, and Baze looked over from the window but then looked back. “The Force will guide us,” Baze said.

“As the Force saved NiJedha?” Chirrut asked, challenge building in his voice.

That grabbed Baze’s attention more and he turned to face him, leaning against the side of the bulkhead. A few hours ago, the most Bodhi knew about Chirrut was that he was a blind man who apparently could fire a lightbow quite well and was an old friend of Baze. Then he appeared accompanying an Imperial agent who had the intention to kill them all, which never happened. Now it was as if Chirrut had always been there and Bodhi was still trying to decide if he did trust the man or not.

Baze folded his arms. “The Force works with balance and we do not always know its ways.”

“Or, plainly, that it does not have anything to do with us,” Chirrut replied.

Baze’s voice didn’t harden and his tone didn’t even change. He stayed neutral in the face of having is beliefs called into question in the face of such a tragedy. “I know you don’t believe that,” he said. “You didn’t used to-. This was made by mankind, but the Force guides us now. It saved _us_.” 

“ _We_ saved us,” Chirrut countered.

Surprisingly, a smile actually played at Baze’s lips as he looked at Chirrut with unhidden fondness. “I have missed you,” he said.

It wasn’t obvious until now that it had been an argument rehashed over many years between them. Baze told Bodhi that Chirrut was his friend, that he used to be a Guardian too, but Bodhi didn’t know how far that relationship actually went. It should be that if the monk trusted the blind man, it should be enough. Bodhi wasn’t so certain yet. His world had been turned upside down too many times lately.

“Okay, I’m glad you’ve reached that understanding or whatever that is,” Bodhi said. “But that’s not helping with us right now—and _who_ are you anyway? Who exactly are you? I mean I know who you are but you can with her and…”

The blind man looked in his direction. He seemed almost more personable than Baze—if anything, he smiled more, and despite the previous negative stance he’d taken, most of what he’d said seemed on the optimistic side. Maybe they needed an optimist. “Chirrut Imwe,” he said. “I fight the Empire now.”

“When previously you had been siding with them?” Baze asked.

Chirrut considered the question but his frown only lasted a moment. “Only against mutual enemies. I put that money to go use for the rebellion.”

He wasn’t sure he believed all of it but he wasn’t going to have much of a choice, Bodhi thought. “You really are part of us?”

“We all cannot stay behind and guard ancient temples,” Chirrut replied.

“Indeed.” Baze looked up to Bodhi. “He is the one I told you about. Faith used to be his strongest weapon now it seems it’s something else.” 

Nodding his head in agreement, Chirrut tapped his staff on the floor of the shuttle. “Hope. I place my hope in the Rebellion.”

Hope and faith. Two different ideas but both necessary. He briefly wondered if Baze and Chirrut were the actual embodiment of those ideas. They needed both of them. The Rebellion needed all it could get actually, and it would take desperation and determination too.

But if they had any hope against preventing what happened at Jedha from happening anywhere else… Bodhi sat up straighter. “Galen. We still need to get Galen Erso. He’s our hope.”

Just the three of them going into what would be Imperial territory. It might be suicide. Baze looked up calmly, not questioning the decision at all. Faith.

“Then what are we waiting for?”


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_He had only ever made her cry once before._

_She hated having heated words with Krennic. For most of her life, she’d watched him turn the force of his words on others, often standing by his side and feeling the power of commanding troops or putting an officer in his place bleeding over to her as well._

_The first time Jyn remembered feeling powerful was sitting on Uncle Orson’s hip and gripping a handful of his cape while he held onto her and roared at an officer until the man started to shake. She was elevated above the officer and he was at their mercy. Now she was on the receiving in and it was one of the worst feelings she’d ever experienced._

_“I’ve been working with 7221 since you started sending me out on missions—I need him by my side!”_

_It wasn’t just that they were fighting, or that he was pulling rank when she disagreed. It was that he didn’t understand. Jyn didn’t know if she could make Krennic understand though._

_“7221 isn’t available, he’s off on assignment,” Krennic said. He hadn’t started to raise his voice yet but his tone was plenty annoyed by her protests. “I really don’t care which one you take, Jyn, just take one.”_

_“He’s the one that I want,” she replied, folding her arms across her chest. She looked down at him, standing in front of his desk in his office, and at least she held some power there. Just not all of it._

_And then there was Krennic with the illusion of laid back calm while he sat at the desk, leaning back in the chair and one step away from possibly putting his boots up on the desk, but the way that he continued to grip his datapad said otherwise about his level of tension. “He’s not available,” he stressed, emphasizing the words. “Just take one, Jyn, for kriff’s sake. It doesn’t matter which one, they’ve all had the same bloody training.”_

_That was exactly it. The other deathtroopers weren’t Cassian. “They’re not the same! We’ve worked together, we know each other. I can’t just expect another one to pick up where he left off.”_

_“That is the whole point of the squad-..”_

_“-It’s not the same; I trust him! I don’t know the other ones and I don’t have time to train-..”_

_“They’re already trained or they wouldn’t be going with you!”_

_“Do you want this mission done or not?”_

_Krennic slammed his hand down on his desk. “That’s enough!” She had overstepped her bounds now but there was no backing down and she refused to be the cowering lieutenant because she knew him.  She had known him her entire life._

_"I_ will _ground you and you'll stay here; that will be the end of it," he snapped.  "_ _These are my troopers that I am loaning out to you._ _They still follow my orders and they_ still _belong to me."_

_Jyn felt the rage rise up in her chest as the heat rose to her face as well st the prospect of 7221 belonging to anyone but her._ _Or belonging at all.  "_ _Cassian is not--.."_

_"What did you just say?" he demanded suddenly with such force that Jyn took a step back._

_That was it._    _This would be the end of all of it._    _She'd never see him again._   I _t hit her so strongly that her chest physically ached and she wondered if heartbreak was a literal term.  "_ _I--..nothing!"_

_"No, what did you call him?"_   _Krennic got to his feet, walking around his desk._    _His tone had turned softer but she knew the storm that was coming._

_The lump in her throat felt so foreign and it was difficult to talk around it._    _"Cassian," she said even quieter._

_He nodded slowly, coming around to face her._    _Jyn wanted to duck out, erase everything that she had just said, but she couldn't go back._    _She refused to run; she was too strong for that, but Krennic was her uncle and she knew that would bring her no mercy either._    _"Cassian," he said, nodding his head slowly in understanding._    _"So that's what it is."_

_Jyn held her breath and she thought she could actually see him drawing up all of the negative energy around him to project it at his target, as if he was draining the sun to use it as his own personal weapon._    _Then he unleashed it on her._

_"These are not people, they are not your friends, they do not have names!_     _These are soldiers, Erso!" he bellowed._   " _Do not bring them to your level ever._    _They do not belong there._    _Do you understand?"_

_All the words that built up to contradict him, all of the things that Galen had taught her about respect died in her throat as the tears started to build up at the corners of her eyes and Jyn hated herself for it. She knew she was stronger than this and she wasn’t about to give up Cassian, but did it truly hurt that much that Krennic was yelling at her or was it that he didn’t understand?_

_There would be no convincing him otherwise. She couldn’t bring Cassian there and show him that this was a strong, intelligent man who lived and fought by her side because Krennic would never see it. Part of Jyn was sorry that she did._

_“I understand,” she said, hating that her voice didn’t sound any stronger._

_If he felt remorse at coming down hard on her, he didn’t show it, but she didn’t think he did. He clasped his hands behind his back, regarding her with a critical eye. “I’m assigning you TX-4674 unless you are unfit for this mission, lieutenant.”_

_“No, sir.”_

_Then his face turned softer. Maybe he did feel something after all. Krennic reached up and cupped the side of her face fondly. “I only do this to protect you, Jyn, I hope you know that. Even if you can’t see it now, I’m protecting you.”_

\--

“Jyn! Thank everything you’re all right—we hadn’t heard from you and I feared the worst.”

She could actually hear the concern in his voice and he did genuinely look both upset and thrilled to see her. Given where she’d been, Jyn wasn’t at all surprised—it wasn’t as if much of Jedha survived. However, she came in like a sudden, angry stormcloud. As Krennic reached for her, she slapped him so hard that his head twisted to one side.

“You tried to have me killed!” Jyn refused to give him even a second to recover from the blow, already pushing him back verbally. “You knew I was down there!”

“Jyn..” He took a step back from her, working to recover his ground with a hurt expression and rubbing the side of his face. “Darling, I would never--.. We issued the evacuation order with plenty of time!”

But she knew exactly what he was doing. She’d known Krennic for too long not to see it. Trying to win her back with any amount of concern he could muster. It might have been true but Jyn was too enraged to buy it anyway.

“No, you sent me down there and then you showed up in this _thing_ before I could finish the kriffing job!”

Krennic held his hands up, attempting to calm her or at least slow her down. “That’s not it, just listen to me—…”

“You don’t get to make excuses—you didn’t give me any time! And then this; what the hell is it?” she demanded.

They didn’t make it to Eadu where maybe they could have paused and she might have approached Krennic with a more level head, but instead they’d received immediate orders to the station itself. The weapon. Jyn had her first glimpse of it from the viewscreen of the shuttle as they entered the docking bay when hours ago she hadn’t even known it existed.

Krennic was racing through ways to diffuse the situation and Jyn didn’t care if he was her superior and that she was coming down on him with full force. “It wasn’t my idea; I didn’t issue the orders, it was Tarkin. I tried to stop them, Jyn, believe me I did.”

Excuses. That was all he could come up with as any kind of an explanation. Part of her was not even as concerned about the danger they had been in because they had escaped and hundreds of thousands hadn’t gotten out.

“You destroyed a city. It’s gone, all of it.”

It was beautiful, she thought she almost heard him say. It was written all over his face. Jyn had seen how much his face lit up as she was first able to hit a practice target, and there was the way he’d beamed when she came back from her first assignment successful. She had watched him take pride in knocking another officer beneath him. She had turned a blind eye as he ordered an assault on a rebel faction knowing that civilians would be in the way. Somehow it wasn’t until this moment that she was disgusted by him.

Krennic had kept her in the dark about the project; she was furious at him at that and now that she saw how much joy he took in creating destruction, she was even more enraged. How many more lies had he told her? Had Gerrera really been telling the truth about her mother as well—another of Krennic’s lies that it had been the Rebellion who killed her.

His face twisted again, changing from the awe of bringing up the destruction of Jedha City, to a distracting anger. He pointed past her at Cassian instead.

“ _You_ were supposed to get her off of the planet! You were supposed to protect her!”

Jyn stood in front of the death trooper, taking up space between Cassian and Krennic and making the Director look at her instead. “This isn’t his fault—he’s not the one who fired on us!” she shouted at him.

He deserved to squirm after everything he’d put her through. He deserved that and more.

“Jyn..” He reached for her arm, still trying to smooth things over and salvage what he could, but she pulled away from him.

“No.” Pushing past him, she kept walking. She needed to see her father. That would be the next step. But seeing Krennic, the figure she’d looked up to all of her life now after the illusion had been swept away with Jedha sand was painful enough. It was the second time that tears involuntarily and unwelcomed pricked the corners of her eyes because of Orson Krennic and she refused to let him see it.

It wasn’t going to be any easier with her father and she needed to steel herself.

\--

As Jyn walked away, Krennic didn’t stop her.  He reached out suddenly to stop 7221 from walking past with a hand to his chest armor.  “Not you.  You stay,” he said, his tone turning icy.

The trooper turned his helmet to look at him, but said nothing, though he was surprised that Krennic couldn’t feel his heart starting to beat faster through his armor.  Force, the droid better not say anything because he could feel K-2 looming behind him and they both knew that punishment lie ahead.

“Yes sir,” 7221 said.  It wasn’t anything he hadn’t faced before which meant that he kept his voice strong and steady, not betraying anything he was thinking.  He wasn’t supposed to show fear.  He also hadn't done anything wrong. That was never an indication that could save him.

"What happened down there?"  Krennic made it clear that he wasn't to disrespected with the answer to his question.  7221 was not to lie to him or withhold information.

That was exactly what he wanted to do if he was to protect Jyn. "We had infiltrated Gerrera's stronghold.  I had to get her out."

Krennic narrowed his eyes, lifting his chin up to look down on the soldier. 7221 wasn’t as tall as most of the death troopers, which gave Krennic that slight advantage. He’d been challenged about it before and his height was never a factor in losing any fights as he decidedly won most of them.

“I find it hard to believe that neither one of you heard the evacuation orders in time.”

The Director maintained a false calm. It could rupture open at any moment. 7221 picked his words carefully. “I heard it. I had to get her out.”

“You let her go in against rebels by herself?” Krennic demanded, the volume of his voice continuing to rise.

7221 struggled to keep the calm in the air. It was all going to burst—just a matter of time. “It was part of the plan; she can handle herself.”

That was all it needed for Krennic to ram 7221 back against the nearest wall with a resounding thump and the Director's explosive voice.  “You were supposed to protect her!” he shouted at him.  “She’s my family—she could have died because of you!”

The stupid droid that was always in the way barely had enough time to move before they would have mowed right over it, and now Krennic had 7221 pinned against the wall with his arm pressing under his helmet toward his throat. It was a vulnerable position but 7221 didn’t use his skills to get out of it—he could have taken the Director on and won without an issue except he would certainly be executed for that kind of rebellion. Any rebel would be executed.

Instead he had resigned to a life of taking orders or punishment when necessary. He didn’t argue. He didn’t fight, unless ordered. 

Unless it had to do with Jyn. That was an order though, to protect her at all cost. Maybe that cost was also defending his ability to protect her. 7221 gripped Krennic’s arm, noting that the man’s eyes narrowed dangerously. However, it was the droid that really interrupted them.

In some sense of loyalty or preservation of its programmer, the droid put its skeletal hand on Krennic’s shoulder, threatening to pull him away. 7221 looked up quickly, much more alarmed at that then at Krennic’s assault. “K-2, no!”

The droid didn’t let go, but it was enough for Krennic to shrug it off angrily. Instead he pushed the trooper to the side to get rid of him. “Get out of my sight, both of you! That should be melted down to scrap!” he exclaimed, pointing wildly at the droid. But he wouldn’t do it. He said so himself; he only said should and 7221 held onto the word as he regained his footing to look up again.

Krennic drew in a breath, taking his composure back from his outburst. “I’m reassigning you, 7221. You’ve caused enough trouble here.”

\--

 He was to ship out in the morning.  There wasn't anything to pack.  Cassian didn't own anything of value and if he did need to bring something with him, he carried it on his person anyway. His armor, for example.

K-2SO was an issue, but so far Krennic hadn't acted on it, just threatened.  The droid was watching him though in the barracks; they were alone and even though there was nothing to pack, Cassian was making himself as busy as possible, taking his blaster rifle apart and putting it back together again.  He pretended as though he didn't notice but he was too intent on what he was doing and making it faster each time until his hand finally slipped.

"Cassian," the droid said.

He didn't even look up, but he grabbed the rifle part he had dropped and continued.  "Don't call me that."

"That is what Jyn Erso calls you," it pointed out.

But there was only silence.  Cassian ignored it, trying to get his focus back.  K-2, though, wasn't so willing to just let it all pass by and just staring at its programmer wasn't getting anywhere. It had been told that it was hard to ignore when it was staring, and specifically that it was 'disturbing' and 'kriffing stop it, K-2'.

Shifting on its feet, K-2 planted its hands on its hips in a pose it had definitely learned from human counterparts.  "Are you not going to tell her?"

That got Cassian's attention; his head snapped up and his hands stilled on the rifle.  "Tell her what?  There's nothing to tell her."

“You have a strange definition of nothing,” K-2 declared, stomping a few steps away from him before it turned back. “We should not have to go.”

Maybe it was making progress because Cassian’s eyes narrowed at it. Normally, the human had the protection of the helmet to guard any emotions he might be expressing. Maybe it kept him from being able to guard his expressions on the outside, or he really wanted K-2 to see his displeasure. The droid thought that expressible emotions were a hindrance more than anything else, allowing someone else to view exactly what one was thinking and react to it.

“You don’t have to go then. You can stay here.”

Or.. perhaps not. The statement made K-2 stop in surprise. It hadn’t been expecting that. It straightened up, as if it was coming to attention like it had seen Cassian do so many times, especially when he had something serious to say. “My protection and safety protocols will not allow me to leave you,” K-2 said in the most even voice it could manage.

“Protocols--..” Scrunching his face up some, Cassian looked up at the droid again. “I never gave you any of that.”

“No you did not,” the droid said. Cassian wouldn’t have given K-2 the protocol to stay at his side forcibly, or the protocol to override his orders to keep Cassian safe. However, it had seen Cassian nearly disobey orders to keep Jyn safe. Why couldn’t it do the same?

“I still do not think we should have to go.  We would be safer with Jyn Erso—even if she is terrible.” 

"You hate Jyn."

"Hate is a strong word."  Maybe it did hate someone, or at least strongly dislike.  Today, it was Krennic.  The director tried to hurt his programmer.  Tomorrow, it might go back to disliking Jyn Erso, but for now she was he lesser of two evils.  

Cassian rubbed the rifle down with a cleaning solution, preparing to put it away.  He would bring that with him.  But the rifle had saved his life many times.  So had K-2.

"We can't just leave, K-2.  I have orders, so we have to go."

The droid stared at him again.  "So we can leave for orders, but not because we want to?"

"I'm a soldier.  We follow orders," Cassian snapped.  He wasn't going to tolerate much more pushing but K-2 could claim it didn't understand the human tone of annoyance.  Even if humans often annoyed it.  

"You've disobeyed before.  For Jyn Erso."

At as the breaking point.  Cassian jumped up to his feet, nearly dumping the blaster rifle that he had cleaned and put back together so carefully.  "Stop it.  You're talking _treason_.  You can't talk like that, K!"

"Why?" the droid challenged.  "You would do it for Jyn Erso."

It knew it had him there.  Cassian didn't snap back right away. He was working his jaw, trying to come up with a response. Jyn was too sensitive of a subject. After all, Cassian had just braved a planet-kill machine to find her again. If that couldn’t take them away, then the Empire surely wouldn’t be able to separate them.

Not that the droid cared all that much. It was more concerned with going somewhere it wouldn’t be allowed. It was, at least, allowed with Jyn.

“We can’t just go. You can’t talk like that,” Cassian said at last. “Do you know what they’d do if they heard you? You’re my friend; I don’t want to lose _you_!” The sudden outburst of emotion seemed to startle them both and not in the least Cassian himself. Almost as soon as he’d said it, he turned away from the droid.

“Go find some power. We’re leaving early,” he said, much quieter.

K-2 was his friend. Jyn Erso was—well, she was annoying, and it didn’t know what kind of label to put on her for what Cassian thought about her, but she was important to him. It had never had a friend before; without Cassian, it would have just been scrap in the first place. Didn’t he know that was why they had to go, because eventually they would both be scrap and that would take Cassian away too. Its protocols wouldn’t allow it. For a long time, the Empire was protection but maybe it wasn’t anymore.

As it started to stalk away toward the power source at the corner of the room, K-2 paused but didn’t look back, shoulders slumped slightly and eyes fixed toward the floor. “I don’t want you dead either, Cassian,” it said.

\--

_Chirrut had not been born blind. From his childhood memories, he could still see the color of Jedha’s sky and the beige and tan hues of the desert when he closed his eyes in meditation. Even without sight and with just the memory of color that was old and often faded, the kyber crystals still stood out to him. He could feel their energy without even needing to see them._

_That was the way of the Force. It provided a way when he didn’t see one—so he didn’t need to see. Instead he could go through life with his feelings._

_It was so effective that he felt the arrival of the war ships before they had even entered the atmosphere of the planet. Chirrut’s eyes snapped open from deep meditation and he didn’t move other than to reach out and snatch the hand of Baze sitting next to him._

_“They have come.”_

_Truthfully, it was only a matter of time before the Empire took interest in Jedha. It was the highest concentration of kyber anywhere in the galaxy. To find other naturally occurring growths would involve searching thousands of planets with very little success. All of the Guardians expected it and they were all on their guard._

_Since the traumatic Order 66, things had not been the same in the temple. Chirrut had not been the same. His connection to the Force was so strong that the death of that many Jedi at once had been profoundly painful. They were about to face another challenge now._

_Baze didn’t ask. He squeezed Chirrut’s hand and then stood up, tugging on the blind man’s arm gently to encourage him to his feet as well. “Then we will stand together.”_

_Tapping his staff on the ground, Chirrut started to smile some. “The Force will protect us here. We have not been abandoned.”_

_His optimism had long kept Baze in good spirits. Despite the death of the Jedi that had left Chirrut in an emotional haze for weeks, despite the rise of the Empire and the threat looming over them, Chirrut had returned to the Force time and time again. He was their rock because when they were the only defense, the Guardians more than starting to lose hope._

_“No, we have not.” Baze placed his hand on the small of Chirrut’s back, walking with him toward the entrance to the temple. “We are one with the Force-“_

_“The Force is with us,” Chirrut continued._

_They both paused at the threshold opening onto street as the temple held its breath. The mantra seemed to only linger inside and didn’t carry with them out into the open. Chirrut could sense the change in atmosphere even if Baze kept his hand on his back in comfort. Fear._

_He wrapped both of his hands around his staff, resting it on the ground in front of him. “Baze,” he said. “Tell me.”_

_The other man breathed out a sigh. “A destroyer, settling over the city,” he said. “Next will be shuttles and landing parties.” Baze’s tone turned stronger. The sight of the star destroyer descending over NiJedha was certainly disheartening but Chirrut couldn’t see it with his eyes. He could feel it instead. It wasn’t even something he could imagine feeling other than the image of the sky becoming dark or blocked entirely._

_“We will stand strong,” Baze added. “We have the Force.”_

_Chirrut locked in his stands as a keeper of the gate and a Guardian of the Whills. “This temple has stood for thousands of years. They will not move us.” He would stand against stormtroopers, attack or invasion. He would stand against anything they could send. He would stand next to Baze and he would not falter, and the Force would stand with them._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a bit of a drama break? Kinda sorta? More drama next time. :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As chaos at work increased, I just haven't been in the mindset to write as much and the end of this chapter was a struggle that I'm still not entirely happy with but I think it turned out as well as it could. The next chapter might be slow too but I am still working on it. I'm picturing a handful of chapters left on this so stay tuned!

Chapter 7

It wasn't that regular stormtrooper guards were afraid of Jyn Erso, it was that they were terrified of her.  She didn't have a reputation for violence, but she did have the ear of Director Krennic and that automatically gave her power.  She was dangerous though.  He details of her mission records were kept secret, but rumors abounded.  Some say she killed a dozen men single-handedly.  Some say it was a hundred.  Some say she infiltrated a rebel base and blew it up from the inside out and that was her specialty.  Some said she didn't even need a weapon, that despite her small stature, she could kill a man with her bare hands.  Or several.

When she told the guards outside of Galen Erso's quarters to stand aside, no one questioned. They did as they were told, standing aside so she could enter. Certainly Krennic had not forbidden her from seeing her father, just forbidden her father to leave his quarters until further decision by the director. With Krennic already upset about the situation with Erso to start, no one wanted to dare upset Jyn for fear of it reaching Krennic and having the full power of a battle station rain down upon them. The alternative of facing an angry Jyn was not a lighter prospect either.

Even as the stormtroopers stepped aside to allow Jyn access, she remained there for a moment longer. “I’m seeing him alone.”

They didn’t glance at her but continued staring straight ahead. “Yes, ma’am.”

She left them outside, entering the quarters alone and with some caution, unsure of what she’d find inside. Galen wasn’t certain what he’d see the next time the door opened either, but as he looked up from the desk in his room, he hadn’t expected to see the face of his daughter.

The stormtroopers must have been intimidated enough to let her come in alone just by her hardened expression. Jyn was there with a purpose. Krennic had sent her to Jedha and for all of Galen’s wondering about what she might find there, he also knew that he was about to find out. He climbed to his feet, turning to face her fully and opened his arms but kept them low in a more subtle gesture for her to come closer. “My stardust.”

“What happened, Papa?” She did come closer, but she didn’t touch him. There were no embraces or greetings of affection. Just the cold question.

Galen let a breath out through his nose and let his hands come down to his sides. “Krennic thought that there was someone on my staff who was sending out information. Secrets. He-..” Even the words were difficult to say. He swallowed in an attempt to keep his voice steady. “When no one stepped forward, he killed them all.”

Jyn came closer, another few steps, closing the distance so that he could almost reach out and pull her into his arms. “It wasn’t them though, was it?”

“No,” Galen said. Light and sound went off all at once in his head like the dramatic wail of the alarm onboard the space station. She knew. “No, it wasn’t them.”

She pushed her lips together in a determined face—either determined not to cry or determined to be angry—he was unsure which. “Because it was you.”

Slowly, Galen closed his eyes as her words washed over him and he allowed his chin to drop toward his chest, accepting the declaration of truth and bracing himself for the whirlwind that was about to start.  “Because it was me.”

But the wind didn't start to blow.  There was no thunder and rain.  No cloud of destruction on the horizon.  Jyn was cold instead.  Galen wasn't certain what was worse.  What exactly had she seen on Jedha?

She clasped her hands behind her back, ever the officer.  It was as if she belonged more to Krennic than to him anymore with the changes too subtle to detect until one day he woke up and his daughter was an Imperial captain.

"I met Saw Gerrera," she said.  "He's gone now."

It felt like Galen's heart stopped in his chest.  Maybe he wished it would.  "You-..?"

"No, no.."  Jyn shook her head quickly.  "It wasn't me.  It was Krennic.  It was that _weapon_."

"The Death Star," Galen said.  He had only said its name a handful of times and each subsequent time, it made his skin crawl more and more.

She looked away from him.  He couldn't imagine what she had seen down here.  He wanted to ask, but it must have been horrible.  She would guide this conversation.  He owed her answers.  "We talked, for a long time.  I saw your message.  Is it true, Papa?"  She focused on him again, with her voice so thick that it nearly broke.

"Yes," Galen answered without hesitation.  He didn't know what Saw told her, but he didn't need to--any of it would be enough. "All of it."

Jyn's face scrunched up involuntarily as she could no longer hold back the tears and he first sob bubbled up.  Galen stepped forward, reaching to place his hand on her arm.  He was still cautious.  Everything had changed--she found out that she never really knew him and he wouldn't blame her in the least if she lashed out at him because maybe he didn't really know her either.  "Jyn.. stardust."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded, a second set of tears already rolling down her cheeks.

None of the reasons he could give her would make her happy. They would all hurt. Galen tried to think of the one that would hurt the least considering what she had already been through but he watched her face suddenly change. No, she had figured it out on her own. The look of realization struck him with yet another ache.

Jyn swallowed, looking as that she didn’t want to believe it but knew it had to be trust. Just like the rest of it. “You didn’t tell me because-.. did you think I would _report_ you? Were you afraid—of _me_?”

“That was one of the reasons,” Galen admitted, knowing defeat was showing in his voice. “I couldn’t be certain how you would react. Now I-… Now I know.”

She stepped forward, slowly and not aggressively but as if she knew that Galen would still be there when she got there. With trust. She wrapped her arms around him with trust and nestled her head against his shoulder, holding onto him tightly.

Galen closed his eyes, soaking up the feel of her in his arms again.  His little girl.  “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.  I know I should have done more,” he confessed.  “I wanted you to be safe and happy and this—it is neither.”

He could feel her shaking in his arms, but he couldn't tell if it was her tears or her anger.  She had inherited a lot from her mother, including Lyra's strong and sometimes fiery spirit, which Krennic had continued to encourage throughout her life. Regardless, he rubbed her back.  Whatever she thought of him, he still loved her and he would always love her.

"What do we do?" she asked.  Hearing her voice so small made him think of her as a child again.  It had been a long time since she had last asked him anything like that, or looked to him specifically for answers.

But that she called them 'we' also gave him heart.  "With everything you know now, you believe it?"  Galen moved back, placing his hands on his shoulders so he could see her face still glimmering with tears.  "You believe me?"

She sniffed softly, wiping her cheek with the back of her sleeve. "I saw what that machine is capable of--how many people it wiped out.  I want to kill him.  But.. but I would settle for seeing it destroyed.  He's a kriffing monster."

"I am sorry, my beautiful," he said, brushing her cheek with the back of his hand.  "I never wanted you to know this pain.  If we had run, they always would have hunted us."  He should have taken the chance.  So much would have been different.  Galen finally had his chance though, and he had his daughter again. "We must leave.  I can't risk seeing Krennic again; he may not know it was me but it can't be long until he figures it out."

"He loves you too much to suspect you, Papa," she said, though where there might have been fondness before, now there was disgust.

Galen hated that it took this long for the shine to wear off of Krennic for her to know who he truly was and that she wouldn't have believed her father if he had told her earlier.  Uncle Orson wasn't a monster, he was her biggest admirer.

Part of him felt sad about it; after all, there had been a time when he did consider Krennic to be a good friend.  "He won't any longer after this."

“So we leave..” Jyn started, cautiously. “We leave. And then what? We could run, be safe, never look back and see them again.”

If he had not been planning it for years, if he hadn’t been communicating with the Rebellion for all of Jyn’s life, he might have agreed. There was far too much at stake though with the Death Star. Jedha was only a test if what she said was right. “You saw it yourself. You said you even want to see it destroyed. We can do that—we need to get to the Rebellion first. There we will be safe.” Galen offered her a smile, cupping her cheek. “There we will be among friends.”

Jyn closed her eyes. “Friends,” she echoed. “You’re right though, he will hunt us down.”

“That is the risk,” Galen agreed. “We must have the courage to do so. We have no other choice, Jyn.”

When she looked up at him again, her eyes were clear, as was her decision. They could run, but she had indeed seen the Death Star’s power. They couldn’t run from that. It was the right way.

She nodded to him in agreement. “I need to bring someone else.”

\--

The disaster at Jedha left them adrift. Bodhi wanted more than anything to go back to the base, continue on flying transports and cargo ships for the Rebellion. Maybe even taking on a fighter. He could do that. At least fighters had, well, mostly clear missions.

His mission wasn’t complete, that was the problem. First it was meet up with Gerrera, then it became get Erso. He couldn’t show up at the base empty-handed. Bodhi rested his head against the bulkhead of their transport—he wasn’t a ground soldier; he certainly wasn’t an intelligence agent. He was just a pilot.

They were in hyperspace when he sent a message back to the base on Yavin for General Draven. The man was far above Bodhi’s level that he still questioned how Draven even knew he existed and was from Jedha in the first place. Maybe personnel files.

The message was brief. It was all he could manage. ‘Jedha destroyed. Massive Imperial weapon. No sign of Erso. Advise. Please.’

Baze looked at him from the other end of the cargo area, but he continued to speak to Chirrut softly, just low enough to be under Bodhi’s hearing. They could have their private conversation, just as he could. They didn’t need to know what Draven was communicating back to him.

It took some time before the coded reply came in, pulsing at him on the comm system impatiently. ‘Find Erso. Take alive if possible. Terminate if not.’ 

Terminate. Force, this was another _person_ he was talking about. Bodhi had a hard enough time letting go of a droid let alone another person, and it was Galen Erso. Galen was-.. Well, Draven didn’t know him, but if he did, he’d understand. Galen wouldn’t want this—not any of it. 

The plan had to been to go find him anyway but how could it be like this.  Finding Galen just to take him out.  Bodhi is wasn't a murderer.

As he looked back at Baze and Chirrut, Saw's test came back to him.  The partisan who was ready to lay down his life for the cause, and the soldier, in Bodhi's case who wasn't a soldier, who had to be prepared to kill a friend.  Baze talked about faith, about having faith in Bodhi to make the right decision.  What if he right decision was killing one of he very few people that he'd looked up to in his life?

Bodhi toyed with his kyber crystal.  Faith, Baze said.  Faith and hope.

He sat down next to them with Chirrut tilting his head toward him instinctively.  But they both waited for Bodhi to speak. How had he of all people been elected leader?  Of a monk and an assassin.  

"We have a safe place waiting for us, if we can find Galen," he said.  They could give all of the motivational speeches in the world and charge out into space, but it was nothing if they didn't know where to start looking.  "We don't even have his transmission anymore.  No one grabbed it."

Chirrut stared straight ahead at the blank space in front of him, but he nodded his head in response.  "We find him through Jyn."

"Jyn.  Who went back to the Empire?  You think that would even work?" Bodhi asked, not sounding at all convinced. “If we can’t find Galen, how could we possibly find her let alone _contact_ her.”

“We have ways,” Baze said. “We can get inside and find her.”

Bodhi sighed. “And where do we start? How long do we stay in before we’re caught? We can’t just--.. we need a better plan.” They needed someone who could make plans, not just someone who knew how to fly ships and fly them pretty well, which didn’t involve a lot of plan-making. At least not infiltrate and kill sort of plans.

“I will ask her,” Chirrut said suddenly. Bodhi frowned, his head snapping in the man’s direction, but Chirrut just smiled as if he could feel Bodhi’s confusion. “I will contact her and she’ll know.”

“Wait, how-..”

“I have _my_ ways,” he said simply.

Ways Bodhi still wasn’t sure he fully trusted. What other choice did he have; Chirrut had shown that he was on their side enough, hadn’t he, and maybe finding Jyn would just prove it even more. And then there was Baze—he just smiled.

\--

 _The temple took most of the beating from the Empire and stone that had stood for thousands of years against freezing desert winds began to crumble._    _Statues of honored Jedi carved out of the desert rocks were left toppled by acts of Imperial will._    _Jedha's rich history was ripped apart despite its guardians who remained powerless to stand against the numbers of the Empire._

 _They stood protesting without violence for as long as they could._    _If they stood in the way long enough, the Empire couldn't mow them over._    _But it could move around them and continue to destroy._

 _It wasn't that they weren't capable of violence--Chirrut knew first hand what a capable and dangerous fighter Baze had become through his life._    _They had trained together, sparred together, even fought at times back to back with complete trust in one another._    _Without the Jedi, they had no backup and they would be quickly wiped out without hesitation by the stormtroopers who eyed them warily._

_The will of the Force could often be elusive but Chirrut was feeling its presence less and less as the Empire continued its assault of any remnants of the Jedi order._    _The logic of his mind said that the Force was still with him and Chirrut relied on his connection to it constantly even to just help him move around in permanent darkness, but he couldn't feel it._    _Meditation brought no peace, reflection brought no clarity._    _He was too upset to feel it; he was too angry._

 _They were finally exiled from their own temple as there wasn't much of a temple left to protect._    _Now they just caused trouble on the streets._    _It wasn't nearly enough._    _As Chirrut began to walk from the ruins, part of him expected Baze to follow him--the rest wanted him to follow._

 _Instead, Chirrut began his journey alone with Baze watching from behind._

_"Where are you going?" Baze called after him._    _For a moment, Chirrut actually thought that Baze wasn't even going to stop him from leaving._    _A few other guardians had left, abandoning their faith and leaving to go off into the galaxy for what ever came next for them._    _Survival, perhaps._    _Only the most devout stayed._

 _Chirrut continued walking another few steps, though he hadn't gotten far._    _Baze could still catch up._ _"I am going to fight the Empire."_

_“We have our fight here.” Baze’s voice was coming closer, but not close enough. He wasn’t joining him, he was only walking after him._

_It made him stop though. Chirrut didn’t turn toward him but continued to face ahead. “There is nothing left to fight,” he said. “They’ve taken our home. It’s gone. You told me so yourself—was that not true?”_

_Of course he couldn’t see the destruction himself, but he could feel it. Jedha felt empty. “No, it is true. The temple is destroyed, but this is still our home.”_

_“The Force has abandoned us here.” Finally Chirrut turned, staring blankly at Baze’s direction with disturbing accuracy. “Don’t give me that look. I know you’ve felt it too. The Empire destroyed our home. Now I am going to fight them for it.”_

_Baze was giving him a look—sadness, disappointment. Maybe he had felt it, or maybe Chirrut had just lost his faith. It didn’t happen with Order 66 but it was worn down after Imperial occupation. “We are fighting here even if you don’t believe us.”_

_“By standing in the way of their machines, peacefully? By letting them kill us and take what they want anyway?” Chirrut gripped his staff with white-knuckled hands. “We are nothing if they kill us. Not even martyrs. No one knows our battles here and the Empire would never let them see. We must take the fight to them.”_

_“And defend what we have left,” Baze corrected. He sighed though. Of all people, he knew of Chirrut’s stubbornness. Instead, he only sounded sad. That was all that was left with him. “I won’t stop you. We are one with the Force, and the Force is with us, together always. It goes with you even now if you choose to leave, even if you do not feel it.”_

_“Keep it with you. If you stay, you will need all of the Force to stand in front of the Empire and not waver,” Chirrut replied._

_It pained him to leave, but it hurt even more to stay in the empty desert. He had been with Baze all of his life and he trusted no one else more. He loved no one else more either. If he asked Baze, specifically asked him to come, he doubted that the other man could refuse him, and if Baze’s mind was set to stay then he wouldn’t ask him to change it for him. Instead, Chirrut turned away again, starting to walk away._

_Baze hung his head for a brief moment but then looked up, calling after him. “It is a sad day that the Empire can take away the faith of the great Chirrut Imwe!”_

_“I have faith!” Chirrut called back once more. “Faith that you will see me again, my love. But I won’t see you.”_

_His last feeling of Baze before he faded into the distance was his smile. Of course Chirrut wouldn’t see him again. He was blind._

\--

The words echoed in her head urgently since the moment she heard them and started to rush through the hallways of the facility to the barracks. _7221 was being reassigned_.

Jyn couldn’t imagine what had happened that would cause Cassian not to tell her that he was shipping out in the morning. Surely he had to know that she would want to know about it. Or to stop it. They had kissed, for Force’s sake, they’re relationship was--… It was complicated. She cared for no one else like she cared for Cassian and she couldn’t imagine him not being there.

So it was late that night that she found him. Her presence startled some of the stormtroopers—the barracks was not a place that most standard officers went, almost as if it was a refuge where the troopers could strip out of their armor and not be soldiers. She respected that, but this was far too urgent to avoid invading their space.

“What the hell is going on?” she asked, little louder than a whisper.

It was just outside the barracks where she had him nearly pushed into a corner so he couldn’t run off and escape her. Cassian never left her—not even when the ground around them was coming out from underneath them, but this was leaving her without even saying so, all in the space that it took for her to talk to her father. 

He shook his head, looking uncomfortable and avoiding her eyes with the hood of his jacket pulled up over his head. If he couldn’t have his helmet outside of the barracks, he could have that. Before that, Jyn hadn’t even known that he owned a jacket.

“We can’t be seen out here,” he said. “This is dangerous.”

“For which one of us?”  She folded her arms, taking her stance of power—the same one that had demanded that he tell her his name, or go against anything else he’d been conditioned not to do.  "Were you going to tell me that you're leaving tomorrow or were you just going to go?"

"Orders," he said decisively.

"Cassian, for kriff's sake!" she growled.  "That is not good enough.  You're not leaving.  Those are _my_ orders."

"You can't override this," he said quickly.  She had him cornered--he was starting to get defensive.  That was good.  She wanted him to get angry and fight back, even if it was against her. 

"The hell I can't!" 

Cassian grabbed her arm, closing in on her space.  "Tell me what happened on Jedha.  Tell me what happened with Gerrera," he said in a low tone.  He demanded it of her.  She couldn't tell if it was jealousy or protectiveness, or suspicion.  But he was upset.  Jyn wanted him to get upset, to at least react like she would.

It didn't mean that it felt good shoved back at her.  She worked her jaw, feeling the muscles in her cheeks tighten.  "The Death Star happened."

"I'm not asking about that; I was there!" he hissed.

She pulled away from him sharply.  "Stop it and listen to me. That's not what I'm talking about.  It's not about the _test_.  It was a message from my father about the Death Star."

His eyes widened.  Of course Cassian knew Galen but he had to suspect something if he was asking.  Suspecting and hearing that it was true were two different things.  Now she was protecting Galen and it would tear Cassian in two between protecting her and turning her in.  Jyn was going to make it worse.

“He’s a traitor..” Cassian whispered at her.

Jyn maintained her control. She didn’t let her face betray anything but seriousness because they both knew the gravity of the situation. She hadn’t wanted him to know what was coming until she said it. “We’re leaving.”

“What, you-.. you can’t be serious.”

“You saw what that weapon can do, and _you_ , you knew about this whole time,” she pushed. “You knew and you never told me. Why?” It wasn’t as if he would have thought that she would turn to the rebellion. They hadn’t come across anything that would suggest it. Jyn reached for his arm instead this time. “What were you afraid of?”

“I wasn’t afraid,” Cassian said automatically. “This has to be done. It’s an important project for our security.”

“That’s shab and you know it.” Her grip softened on his arm but her intensity didn’t as she kept her eyes on him. “Come with us.”

It was a risk coming to him, but it was a risk had Jyn had calculated and knew the odds.   Cassian always came with her. How could this be any different? 

He pulled away as if she burned him, as suddenly as she had before. “This is treason!” he whispered at her, for fear of anyone else listening.

“Look around you. Can you really be part of this? I can’t,” Jyn said. “Not after what I’ve seen and what we’ve both done for them.”

Cassian’s expression tightened even more. It occurred to her that she didn’t know what he’d say next. She came with the intention of bringing Cassian with her, of saying the word just like she would have for a mission and he would follow. He always went with her. But this wasn’t a mission—it was, it was treason.

Jyn thought about the conversation she’d just had with Galen and jumping in to leaving the Empire with her father. She wanted nothing more than to keep him safe but even he questioned her. Galen thought she might have turned him in. Now Jyn wondered about Cassian. Would the only other person she trusted turn her in?

She was surprised at how much the thought hurt.

He was about to say something, but he paused with his attention drawn elsewhere because Cassian was always on alert. He looked up quickly and pushed against her to get her to move enough to pull her down another small hallway and toward an access door as a pair of officers walked down the hall, talking softly.

Jyn’s heart was beating faster. They had come so close to being caught. Yet another risk, should anyone have heard them. But they hadn’t. They were still alone, just the two of them, and no one was listening.

Cupping the side of her face in their new dark corner of hallway space, Cassian kissed her, surprising her even. She’d expected him to pull away, continue fighting and resisting, but she fell into the kiss, sliding her arm around his waist to draw them closer.

When they did part, she touched his face too. “We could be free,” she said. “We could have this and we wouldn’t have to hide. Come with us, Cassian. I won’t leave without you.”

He breathed out, resting his forehead against her shoulder as they both soaked up each other’s presence.  “I don’t want to go. To be reassigned,” he said, his voice soft and only for her ears. “If we go… The rebellion.  We should tell Krennic.”

"What? No, we can’t tell him. Not this time,” she insisted. “Listen to me. Listen to what I’m telling you.”

Cassian set his jaw determinedly.  She had seen that expression on him countless times before because he had allowed her to see it.  She knew how to read him because he allowed it and she felt as thought she was the only one who knew how because she was the only one to see his face.  

"They will catch us," he said with his tone echoing his expression.  "It isn't a possibility; they will.  When they do, if we've told, then we'll be heroes instead of traitors."

Jyn could be just as determined though.  She took what she wanted and that was how she lived her life.  A trait that Krennic taught her.  Longing and dreaming was pointless if you didn't reach out and take it.  "They won't catch us if we win."

But she understood what he was saying underneath the words too.  If they were caught, because for her it was still an if, they would be taken away from each other and probably killed, if not imprisoned and tortured first.  One of the things on the list of possibilities was actually worse but she wasn't certain yet which one it was.

"There is no winning.   _You_ know what we would be up against because you’re the one who wants to fight it."

The Death Star.  That was a compelling reason to not fight against the Empire but for Jyn it was an even more compelling reason to stop it before it could cause the damage that it threatened.

"Then we pick our sides.  We'll never be free here, Cassian," she insisted.  "We'll always have to hide.  I know you're so much more than just a soldier.  I _know_ you are."  Jyn reached for her hand and took a step back, encouraging her to come with her. "That's why I know that we can win."

“This is all I’ve known,” he protested and stood still, unmoving from his place to go with her. “It’s all you’ve known too. You want to just abandon all of it. We were fighting the Rebellion, now you want to stand with them—you think they will even accept us because are suddenly worried about being free?”

That was exactly it. That was her whole gamble. Except they had Galen, which meant they had a way in. “They will take us in because we’re bringing them hope against the Death Star.” 

Cassian looked away from her and slowly he started to smile, even if it was a bitter one, as he shook his head. “Hope,” he echoed. “Wars aren’t won by hope.”

“This is the only second chance we’ll ever get,” she said. “It’s a new life. It’s freedom. That’s our hope, isn’t it?”

It was, even for him. Cassian looked down at their hands because he had never let go of hers and he stepped closer to meet her. “I trust you,” he whispered. “I don’t trust them. I’m fighting for you because you are everything to me.” It was a lot to say. His words landed on her heavily as she felt how hard it was for him to make that decision because Jyn wasn’t giving him orders. He had made the right one though. “I’ll get K-2 and meet you when you’re ready to go. Make it soon.”

She leaned forward to kiss him and feeling as he threaded his fingers through hers in their combined hands. Relief was tangible in the air like a mist. Despite her confidence coming to him, Jyn was starting to doubt that Cassian really would agree to go. She knew she couldn’t do this without him and she refused to leave him behind. Now, he would be there. Hope. She had to hold onto hope that they would turn out all right.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A well deserved rest and fluff, at last.

Chapter 8

Krennic had just gotten a warm mug of tea and was reviewing reports of the previous day when he got the word.  The resounding effect was heard around the station as the mug was knocked over the desk and rolled crashing to the floor, warm tea still dripping down onto the floor grates. 

"FIND THEM!"

\--

“The Death Star, that’s what they are calling it.”  Galen had only begun to explain but already all eyes were on him.  “When I left it, it was only just coming into operation, only now it seems to be complete.”

“Jedha,” Bodhi murmured hoarsely.

It had been a surprise when their contact party from the Rebellion actually included not only Bodhi from Saw Gerrera’s stronghold, but also Chirrut and the Jedha monk.  It seemed as though the universe kept throwing them together.  Any more than that and Jyn would start getting suspicious, however both Bodhi and herself were keepers of what might be the last kyber crystals.  At least if the Empire had anything to do with it.  The rest had to be in the Death Star or destroyed with Jedha. Perhaps, if she were to believe such legends, the Force had something to do with it.

Galen nodded at the mention of the planet.  He hadn't been there, but he knew the destructive power of the station.  The rest of them had seen it and survived.

Bodhi cleared his throat, toying with his crystal against his wrist.  "We saw your message, about the um, the trap.  That's all we had, it--.. I've told that to our command.  They'll need more," he said.  But added as almost an afterthought.  "Which is, you know, why you're here."

"I couldn't risk giving that over the hologram.  I didn't know in who's hands it would end up," Galen explained.  Briefly, he looked at Jyn.  The feeling that her father didn't trust her before came back as the radiating anxiety in her chest.  He may not even trust her now, even here in the Alliance safehouse.

It wasn't the Rebel Base.  They weren't promised anything in talking to Galen's contact, whom she wasn't certain wasn't Bodhi at this point.  Seplora was a backwater trading world with enough traffic to hide their movements, but not enough that the Empire would come looking.  Jyn and Cassian had a handful of safehouses around the outer systems so she knew exactly what to look for in somewhere safe--Seplora was it.  Which also led her to imagine it hadn't been picked by Bodhi, or possibly his decision at all.

From the silent transport ride to the planet, not knowing where they were going, to the tense safehouse common room where she sat at a main table with her father and Bodhi, the whole situation felt like a spark could set it all off.  She reached over and put her hand on Galen's arm.  They were doing this now, they were Rebels.

Galen didn't smile--he didn't so much anymore, not like he had when she was a girl--but he looked up at Bodhi with renewed determination.  "I'll tell you, but if the Empire intercepts a transmission with any of this information, it will all be over. They don't know this secret.  If you lose the element of surprise, you will never win.  We will never win."

"We won't--we've come this far!  We can't turn back, and we can't lose," Bodhi insisted.  "I don't even have a home to go back to.. there is no turning back."

Perhaps it would have stirred a more hopeful crowd but the atmosphere of the group was still icy.  Chirrut was cleaning his lightbow.  Baze sat crossed-legged in the corner with his hands on his knees looking a small step away from falling into a meditation.  Then Cassian, resting against the wall with his shoulder, just looked at the table out of the corner of his eye.

"We don't have a home to go back to either," Jyn said, sweeping her gaze across the room at all of them.  "We have to push forward.  It's the only choice we have."  

"The trap, it’s the reactor.  It's unstable.  I hid it well; it took years of testing and I know they haven't found it because all of my engineers who might have seen it are now dead," Galen said slowly.  His voice remained steady, somehow, but he seemed as though he might break.  Years of being under the Empire had taken their toll. "An impact to it would ignite the whole system and with the power they are using, with the kyber crystals, a reaction would destroy the station."

"You know how it can be done?" Chirrut asked.

So Galen was drawing their interest.  He was drawing Jyn's too. For all of her motivational words and trying to convince Cassian, it really was one thing to talk about it and another to come this close. They were getting closer now.

“Yes,” Galen answered. “I-.. I admit that I do not have the schematics of the base. The design of it—I wasn’t involved in the architecture. However, I know what to look for; the reactor requires exhaust ports to vent. There are plans located in the citadel tower at Scarif.”

Cassian stirred to life, facing them a little more and now with his arms folded, and for a moment, he locked eyes with Jyn. “We know it. Scarif is a fortress.”

The message was clear though. They did know Scarif—they had been there several times, though not enough to know it well, at least not by her part. Security was tight. Getting in to steal top secret plans after they had already left the Empire wouldn’t be easy.

In fact, it should have been done before. It was pointless to push this dangerous work on them now. “Why wasn’t this done before we left?” she asked in irritation.

Galen dropped his chin toward his chest, working his jaw, though he wasn’t shying away from it, he was just thinking. “I was confined to quarters once Krennic suspected someone in my department of contacting the Rebellion. We couldn’t have stayed, not even to get the plans. I never had a reason to go to Scarif; it would have been too suspicious.”

“So now we’re responsible for doing this?” Jyn asked. “We left, with the intention of never going back. You should have told me.”

“We needed to get out first!” Galen lifted his head to look at her. “We couldn’t risk it anymore and now yes. Now, we need this.”

Now he still didn’t trust her, not until they were on the outside. It shouldn’t be a discussion for now. It still shouldn’t hurt so much. “Papa..”

“The Rebellion will help us,” Chirrut said calmly. He set the cleaning cloth for his lightbow aside. “We will have to convince them, but they would help.”

Bodhi rubbed his face. What if it all came apart just like this? Jyn absently reached for her necklace, rubbing the crystal between her fingers. The warmth of meeting Bodhi and coming close to his crystal again had faded, though this time she had been prepared for it even if it hadn’t been quite as hot. It's memory was still there, reminding her of the connection she held with Bodhi.

While her father had been raising her, all of this time he had been going to Jedha and seeing this boy close to her age.  In the warmth of how Bodhi and Galen greeted each other, Jyn saw how her life could have been different.  Maybe if Galen had been somewhere else, maybe if she had escaped long ago. Maybe it was that they were just all drawn to each other and destined to be together no matter how differently it happened. She got that feeling when she looked at Bodhi and remembered her crystal.

That meant that they couldn't give up or they'd lose each other, and she couldn't give up for Cassian or she'd lose him.  She had lost enough, if no other reason to fight.

"Scarif," Bodhi said.  "Even with the Rebels, we can't--.. I mean us, right here.  We'll never get in."

"Why not?"   Baze shifted where he was sitting and opened his eyes to look at them.  "The Force is with us, and we have three who know the facility here with us."

“We don’t know it well enough to break in!” Jyn insisted. “There’s a planetary shield, I know that, and then we’ll need some kind of shuttle, access codes, and a lot more kriffing luck than just the Force.”

“We don’t need luck. We have us,” Chirrut added as he set the end of his lightbow on the ground and stood up.

Lifting his head, Bodhi looked across all of them urgently. “But the Rebels.. they’ll need something more concrete. We can’t just go to them and say that we need to break into Scarif and get some plans—they’ll never believe it! I mean, no offense, Galen, but they don’t know you. I know you. I’m just a pilot; I’m nobody.”

“I thought you were a spy—you said you have contacts, that you could get us to their base.” Cassian finally moved away from the wall but didn’t look any less defensive, arms still folded across his chest.

With voices raised, accusations starting to fly, Jyn really could see it coming apart. In her desperation to deal with everything she had seen on Jedha, she wanted to get away from Krennic’s lies, but she lied to herself. The Rebellion was some ragtag group that wasn’t a tenth of the Empire’s organization. They couldn’t stand a chance…

Galen banged his hand on the table, suddenly on his feet, with enough force that it silenced all of them. Jyn had rarely seen her father angry, not that he was joining in the heated argument, but instead stopping it with the presence of his command with even more effectiveness than Krennic. “Stop this!” he said.

“Listen to me. There will always be darkness if we cannot unite against it. If we fight each other, then the Rebellion crumbles. This has been around too long to fail. I was there for the Clone Wars and what happened with the Separatists when the Empire was formed. Or the Jedi,” he continued.

“The Empire came in quickly and wiped them all out before anyone had a chance. Now they have the power to destroy planets. How many more before we decide that we have to fight no matter how hard it will be? There is never an easy way to stand against an enemy like the Empire, but if it isn’t done, if they are allowed to run free, then no one will ever stop them.”

Galen looked at Bodhi, and then he turned his gaze to Jyn, reaching his fingers to tip her chin up gently. “It is up to us.”

Jyn reached for his hand, squeezing it in support. “Bodhi, can you get us to the base? We have to try.”

The Jedha man’s nerves didn’t seem any calmer, but his resolve was set at least with his hands clenched where they sat on the table. “I can get us there. You’ll have to convince them though. We can leave in the morning.”

Breathing out what must have been the relief of all of Jyn’s lifetime, Galen nodded. “I can convince them. All I need is their ears.”

“Then that’s our hope,” Jyn said. Looking up, she smiled at her father. She would be brave for him. She owed him as much. And as she looked back to Cassian, seeing the man nod to her in return, she felt as though they actually did have hope. Maybe not much of one, but hope.

\--

She announced her presence to Chirrut before she touched his arm.  “You and I need to talk.”

Following the disbursement after the meeting that left them all with shaky allegiances, Jyn waited for the others to move away before she approached the blind man.  It didn't surprise her that Galen needed the space and retreated away from the others.  It had been a lot of emotion for him to produce.  Jyn herself, she felt exhausted by all of it, from the beginning of the journey to now.  But there were other things to confront.

Chirrut gripped his staff, giving her a half of a cocky smile.  When they had first met in a sandy outer-rim cantina, his confidence had been the first thing that struck her.  And that he sensed her kyber crystal from across the room.  For a man who didn't see the world he was in, he seemed to have more command of it than most people who did.

"Just talk?  We never talk," he teased.  "There's always too much fighting to do."

Jyn wanted to smile too and fall back into the old ways where they were allied on their desire to seemingly fight everything, but the dark cloud of suspicion was making it hard to forget the events leading up until now.  No doubt Chirrut also knew what it would be about.  "There's no fighting here," she said.  "Not yet.  I want to talk outside, Imwe."

"There won't be, if we can help it, correct?" he asked.  But once she held his arm, guiding him toward the door to the dwelling, he walked with her without resistance.  "Before we start, Jyn, will you answer this for me.  Are we not still friends?"

She paused at the threshold, but only left it as a pause.  Despite knowing him, knowing that of course he knew the conversation coming, that he would have to answer for Saw Gerrera, for Jedha and for being in contact with her father, it still startled her just a little that Chirrut called her on it so bluntly but without actually mentioning it.

"That remains to be seen.  I hope we are," she replied.  So she had learned to be careful showing her hand.   Chirrut told her that she didn't trust anyone and that was true.  She didn't.  Except for Cassian, and her father, for as tentative as their trust was now.  She didn't want to admit that she trusted Chirrut but she had to face herself and admit that she did.

She turned to face him once they were outside the door, hopefully away from most of the ears among them.  "Tell me about Jedha, Chirrut."  The parallel of Cassian demanding to know what happened on Jedha from her wasn't lost on her either.  She hadn’t been able to answer him because she didn’t fully grasp all of what happened on Jedha herself.

"I came with you here so I think we both know that I'm not just going to kill you in your sleep--.."

Chirrut smiled again.  "Easier said than done."

"Shut up," she snapped.  "You showed up as friendly to the Rebels.  Were you using me to feed information?  Or to get to my father?  The truth is, I'm here.  I came willingly.  But now I want to know the truth."

"I think you already know the truth you seek.  I may be blind but I can see that your heart led you here," Chirrut said, without missing a beat.  He didn't even pause to think.  "I wouldn't say I have always been a rebel because I chose the side that brings me the most benefit for what I am fighting." 

Turning to look at her with faded eyes, he inadvertently (or maybe completely intentionally) sent a chill down her spine.  "I have no love for the Empire.  Our arrangement was never allegiance, it was convenience."

“Is that what this is now, just convenience?” she asked impatiently. “You know that I don’t like being lied to.”

“Is this what it is for you?” he asked in return. “You have a change of heart after the Empire destroys a city and you want me to answer for all of my actions? We have been brought together many times, often by chance and simply no more than luck. I am here now, I am telling you what my intentions are—but consider that you are the only one here who has changed sides so dramatically.”

That was another risk of talking too much to Chirrut Imwe, that the philosophical parts would just make her angry. Mostly because he was right. When she stepped back and looked, she saw all of that in herself. When they worked together previously, she did work with him knowing that he could turn on her; was this situation now really any different? If anything, perhaps she was getting to know the real Chirrut.

She clenched her hands into fists and took a step as if she was going to pace, but she didn’t. She breathed out instead. Chirrut was also right that they had been thrown together many times it seemed. If she listened to Baze, he would say that it was the work of the Force. Given the situation with Bodhi, both of them keepers of kyber, she wasn’t certain anymore that it was just blind luck.

“Fine,” she said shortly. Jyn wasn’t going to argue further because she’d lose, but she also didn’t want to fully admit that he was right. “We have to prove ourselves here, that’s it.”

The fact of it was though that he was right. She couldn’t keep demanding explanations from the past because they needed to move forward quickly. As an Imperial operative, she never had issues allying with questionable sources. But as an Imperial, the situations had never been as dire.

"You never had the heart of an Imperial, Jyn," Chirrut commented.  

He could have just left it at that and they both walked away. Maybe in the future, when they had a future, in a quiet moment when tempers weren't so high and she was ready to hear information that might change her view of life again, she would ask him.  Jyn didn't like not knowing, leaving things to bite her in the back, but he had a point.  Even Chirrut couldn't leave it without saying something.

She turned back to face him, pointing her finger into his chest. "Don't you get started.  This was all I _knew_!  I faced a thousand lies, so don't you start telling me too that I have the heart of a rebel."

"You have a heart of kyber," he replied.  "Unbreakable and holding all of the energy of the universe."

Kyber.  Her mother's pendant.  Her mother, the Rebel.  "Nothing is unbreakable.  No one is really like that."

He nodded slowly, perhaps in understanding.  "I believed that once.  If that is so, then why are we fighting?"

\--

There was a strange domesticity to staying in the safe house as they were responsible for finding protein rations and cleaning up the kitchen after everyone had eaten.  Chores had been a regular part of Cassian's life since he could remember so he didn't object at all to helping.  Or just doing.  He could get it all done a lot faster if it was just him.

The Seplora safe house was really a house in the village above a small supply store, which was fortunate because anyone hiding didn't want to traipse around the village to find supplies or food. As a fully functioning house, it not only had real beds--though just a few--but also a real functioning kitchen.

Something about the kitchen drew him in.  Cassian didn't have a lot of experience with food other than protein rations.  On occasion, out in the field, they encountered real cooked food.  More often with Jyn anymore, since assignments with Jyn counted for most of his experience with outside cultures.  If it wasn't for that, he would have spent most of his times in the barracks or following Krennic around.  There were worst assignments, he thought.

The promise of food not in the form of a paste was enticing, even if it wasn't anything as exciting as a street vendor for example that had live creatures still flailing in a pot of broth like the tentacle creature in the Jedha market.  Cassian didn't have the desire to try something like that, but it was interesting to see sometimes, and there were more appetizing options.

He washed dishes automatically.  It was no different from washing armor--the hard exterior felt the same and as long as it was scrubbed and clean, it was done.  Then he took to drying them, rubbing the dishes over with a towel and thinking that this could be every day.  Every day without protein paste or washing dishes instead of armor and weapons.

There were shadows of memory in the kitchen too.  The whisper of a woman's voice humming a melody he didn't think he recognized.  The smell of warm food bubbling away as it cooked.  Nothing nearly as simple as what they had found in the dry pantry of the safe house tonight, but something made with warmth and maybe even love.  He thought he remembered laughter and the feeling of a strong man's arms wrapping around him, still cold from the snow outside.  Was it a memory of his father?

"I asked, where's your accent from?"

Cassian snapped his head up, hands gripping the clean dish in his hand as if he was going to use it as a weapon, and he found himself staring at wide-eyed Bodhi with his hands still in soapy water.  

"Sorry, I--.. I didn't mean to startle you.  I thought you heard me the first time," he said.

Uncurling his fingers, Cassian set the dish down carefully, as if it might suddenly explode later.  He tried to shake off the memories and concentrate on what Bodhi was saying.  Nothing had taken his attention that strongly in years.  But he hadn't remembered his family in years either.

He cleared his throat.  "Fest."

Jyn was lurking nearby after her excursion outside with the blind man and he could feel her eyes being drawn to him.  It was more information than he'd given her even with all of her curiosity.  It certainly wasn't that he was bonding with the rebel.  They were from such different worlds--understanding was canyons away.

Strangely, Cassian continued of his own volition.  Bodhi was watching with interest, but he didn't push.  Perhaps it was being allowed to speak that made him continue.  "We didn't speak Basic.  The Empire didn't allow it; no languages except for their own."

To that degree, they hated his accent too but it was too engrained in Cassian to get rid of it, no matter how hard the Empire tried.

"I've heard of Fest," Bodhi said.  "Pretty far from the central systems.  I'm from Jedha."

If Cassian never thought of Jedha again, he'd consider it to be very good, but there were constant reminders.  It couldn't be ignored.  How would he have felt if that had been Fest--if the Empire had destroyed a piece of where he began?

He hunched his shoulders a little, trying to close around himself.  "Jedha was.."  He trailed off though.  Words of comfort had never been his strong suit, especially when he found it hard to think of it in the first place.

He saw Jyn shift out of the corner of his eye as if she was going to jump in but Bodhi, though, he just waved it off.  “No, it’s okay, it’s-…”  He swallowed carefully.  “I got my family off.  They’re somewhere safe.  I hope.”

“Hope is what we have sometimes. All that we have, maybe,” Cassian said, sounding a little easier about it. He looked over at Jyn, acknowledging that she was certainly listening to what they had to say. “Right?”

She smiled in return. Hope. That was what brought them there. That was what drove him to see her every chance he could get. He could say the words but it didn’t mean that he believed them. Hope might bring Bodhi’s family safely back to him, but it wouldn’t bring the memory of Cassian’s family back to life. Hope wouldn’t save them from death from above and the power of a thousand suns. It was just an idea—they needed action and people and things.

Jyn believed in it. He was trying, because it made her happy. If hope showed that it could keep them together, maybe he would believe in it.

“Yes it is,” she replied.

Smiling at them, Bodhi wiped his hands off on another towel. Cassian considered him for a moment; his awkwardness, nervousness, all of the traits that screamed that he wasn't really a spy.  Just a pilot.  But that kind of thing made people trust him because he didn't seem mysterious.  That could make him even more effective.  The Rebellion had chosen more wisely than he thought.

He didn't have much more time to think on it that Baze entered the conversation.  It was hard to hide their voices to anyone in the main room of the safe house.  "Fest, you said?" he asked. "I've heard of it too.  Separatist planet, wasn't it?"

Cassian didn't move.  He hadn't heard those words for a long time.  As he turned back to look at Baze, giving him a stare that clearly said he needed to watch what he said, he found Jyn looking at him again.  

Baze hummed softly, ignoring him anyway.  "Separatists became the forefathers of the Alliance.  Perhaps you have always had some Rebellion in you."

Nearby, Chirrut chuckled at the notion.

Cassian clenched his jaw, feeling even more exposed.  He didn't have his armor to hide behind.  They would all see who he really was; they would see his face and his expressions and his emotions.  He'd spent so long behind a mask, being viewed as a soldier or even a nightmare, that he wasn't used to being a man instead.

They were all testing each other’s boundaries and loyalty—Jyn had been challenged already, naturally that meant that he was next. Whether he liked it or not, he had gone with her and now they were Rebels. Being called one shouldn’t make him feel ashamed.

He refused to look at Jyn and he didn’t answer Baze, hanging up the towel. All the work was done anyway so he could make his escape without having to face who he was anymore. As he started to move past Jyn to get to out of the situation before his heart hammered even harder up into his ears but she caught his wrist first.

“It’s okay,” she said. “We’re here now.”

She didn’t ask him about Fest or the Separatists, any of the things he was afraid would come up. No doubt she would later, but if it wasn’t here in front of everyone, he could escape it. He could still escape now.

Cassian acknowledged it with a single nod. They were still here together so he believed that it constituted things as okay, but time would tell about that. “We’re going to set up a perimeter,” he said, without any other explanation. “Come on, K-2.”

Jyn didn’t even question it.  Cassian knew exactly how to secure an area and she was happy to let him do his job.  As they headed off, she could still hear K-2 speaking.  “The least they could do would be to get us a better ship.  That other one is garbage,” it said.  “But.. I guess the garbage will do.  This is the Rebellion after all.”

\--

There had been a look on her father's face in regard to Cassian and herself.  It wasn't something they had even been able to discuss at any time before leaving.  Some of it had just happened too quickly but she never talked about Cassian with anyone else, not since the mistake with Krennic.  The threat of having him taken away was too real.

'Do you love him?' Galen had asked.  'I think so,' she had replied.  Though they had never said the words before, or even broached the topic themselves.  They had never needed to--love was messy and complicated but the bond of trust that the two of them had wasn't as complicated.  Why change things to make it worse.

However, it was Cassian who led her into one of the sleeping rooms of the safe house, which made her believe that wasn't a single-sided feeling.  He shut the door, turning to face her, and in the first few moments that they had had alone since Jedha, both of them were soft.  Jyn let her guard down, her eyes warm and welcoming, and she could see the tension dissolve in his shoulders at last.

She had things she wanted to say to him, but all she needed anymore was his presence.  It didn't escape her that he didn't speak either.  They said enough with their eyes.

It was Cassian who moved first and she was more than happy to let him, as he brought his hand to the side of her face and the pressed their lips together.  She closed her eyes into his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and dissolving into his embrace.  They had come so far.  Freedom was within reach but they still had further to go.

Jyn breathed out, settling against him as they held each other up, as they always did, but a soft laugh bubbled up.  "I expected you to bring K-2 in here with us."

He hummed softly, his voice sounding amused and relaxed.  That was him, Cassian, not the stormtrooper TX-7221.  "He's standing guard for all of the rooms.  If anybody comes in here, we'll know about it."

"'He'?  Since when has a droid been 'he'?" she asked.

He lifted his head, though his arms didn't loosen any from holding her, as if she might be swallowed up right underneath him.  Cassian must be terrified, she thought.  Maybe not for fear, but of losing her because aside from a patrol or two, he hadn't let her out of his sight at all.

"You never said anything about it before," he pointed out.

"Then maybe I just noticed."  Maybe there were a lot of things she had just noticed now that they had left the Empire; how safe she felt in his arms for example, or the warmth of his hands and the way that her heart wanted to beat against his chest.  She had the time to look at him now, not be rushed away by a mission.  They had the time to have a life.

She tugged him closer, stealing another kiss but letting it linger because, yes, time.  "We'll have to leave early in the morning but we have tonight," she murmured, holding a hand against the back of his head.

"Jyn.." he said, softly, barely above a whisper.  "We could go.  We don't have to do this, we could run."

The veil of security lifted off of her reality--she should have known something else was coming.  They had argued about it too much maybe to assume it would never come up again.  "Cassian.."  She closed her eyes with the heavy feeling that came with having to face her new situation and defend herself seemingly everywhere.  Now here too.

"No, listen," he insisted instead.  He gripped her shoulders instead, trying to get her to look at her.  "It's not too late.  We could even go back--.."

"No!" she snapped, gripping his arms in return.  "No, we can't go back.  We would never see each other.  Ever."

Cassian clenched his jaw tightly, working the muscles on the sides of his face.  "I hate it here.  It's not safe.  We're traitors, even to them.  Even if this is what we want to do, they'll never accept us."

He dropped his hands from her shoulders but she didn't let go of him, still gripping his shirt.  Part of her wanted to beat against his chest in frustration until he understood but the drive to protect him was stronger.  Slowly, she let go too, taking a step back, giving each other space. 

"I don't like it either," she admitted.  "How do you think I feel?  I've had everything turned upside down since Jedha.  You wanted to know what happened with Gerrera, didn't you?"  Jyn wrapped her arms around herself.  It was time to be on display for yet another person and dredge up the newly revealed past. Next would be the judgment.  "My mother was a Rebel.  My father was a Rebel.  I was _born_ into this and I had no idea.  And Krennic and the Death Star, that kriffing--..."

He dropped his eyes slowly.  "I could have told you that.  About Krennic.  That he's not what you thought."

"Then why didn't you!" she demanded.

"Because I loved you.”

Jyn stopped.  It stopped her fighting right there.  His voice was still soft.  It wasn't a declaration to the universe, shouting back to match her anger, it was a statement of fact and it was only for her.

If she did stop to think about it, it wasn't a valid explanation, but it didn't matter.  Cassian had kissed her first; he had said the words first.  The warmth that enveloped her was almost like the kyber crystal glowing against her heart.

"I thought I'd lose you, I thought--.."

"Because you love me?" she echoed.

He nodded slowly.  "Yes.  For a long time, yes."  It was a lot for either of them to admit.  In general, getting personal information from Cassian was like trying to drag a gundark around by its ears, but Jyn wasn't very good with her emotions anyway.  The Empire pushed her to be a soldier, to disconnect.  They had pushed him even further.

"That is the only reason I came.  Because of you."  He had told her that when they left, but his reasoning sunk in more now.  It made her question too.  Did she leave to be a Rebel and do the right thing or did she leave to save her family?  Cassian just shook his head again, his posture turning more rigid.  All of the anxiety was coming back.  "I hate it here.  This place, we won't be able to defend it.  We're vulnerable.  And the Rebels, who do they even think we are?  We're nothing to them.  We have information, that's all.  Then we're disposable."

He wasn't wrong.  Charging into the Rebellion as Imperial defectors might be a half-baked plan.  They had Galen but what would the reception even be like?  They had already defected from one place, who was to say that they wouldn't betray the Rebellion too?

Jyn had no intention of going back to the Empire though.  She wanted to do the right thing, to stand up against the horrible destruction of Krennic's machine--she couldn't be a part of that.  If her motive was more than that though, that was acceptable, she thought.

"So, we run, as you said," she started.  "We run, we hide.  The Empire finds us.  You said that too, Cassian, and you know them just as well as I do.  It's only a matter of time, then.  If we run, don't look up, forget about the Empire, they'll just grow stronger.  They'll still find us." 

It sounded so good that she thought she was convincing herself even more.  Stepping toward him, she rubbed her hands up his sides, wanting to feel him melt a little.  She could convince him too because without him, she had no fight. 

"You said you were fighting for me, then screw the Rebellion and make that your reason! I’m sure as hell fighting for you.”

She listened to him breathe out and closed her eyes as he rested his chin against her forehead. “This is it,” she said. “This is all I want at the end of the day and I’ll win a war to stay here because I love you too.”

That had to be enough, didn’t it? It was enough for her. Jyn wanted nothing more than to dissolve into him and stay there forever.

He didn’t answer her entirely, but she felt the tension leave him in the way he held her back. “Come to bed,” was all he said at last. “I want to wake up next to you in the morning.”

\--

All of it had been exhausting from the trip to Seplora to all of the emotions that were being dragged into the open at a moment’s notice, and so they both slept hard, wrapped up in each other’s arms. It wasn’t until close to midnight that the flashing woke him up.

His datapad on the floor nearby, flashing innocently in the dark. Cassian squinted at it and carefully untangled one arm and then another from Jyn to reach for it. He turned away from her in the dark, shielding her from its light with his body.

There was only one message.

_Submit location._  

Cassian looked at the words for a long time, and then glanced over his shoulder at Jyn. She was still asleep—safely asleep. That was all that mattered.

He submitted the coordinates and set the datapad back, then turned back into her. She smiled just slightly in her sleep as she nestled back against him and he closed his eyes with even more soundness of mind that he had done the right thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter involved a lot of rewrites so I'm sorry that it took so long! Hopefully the next one won't be quite this delayed. Thank you all for your comments so far :) I've really appreciated the feedback and hearing that all of you are enjoying it! That is, of course, the most important part.

Chapter 9

_Lyra's necklace was far too big and hung low on Jyn's chest, but she held onto it as a treasure, even spinning back and forth lightly in the chair while her father worked.  She liked going to the lab with Galen, but sometimes his work was boring and he spent hours pouring over datapads.  It was a lot better when he actually did things, or built things, or explained things to her.  Sometimes she didn't understand, but that was okay as long as she was seeing it happen._

_Today was a boring day.  Galen wasn't doing very much talking, or very much working.  Jyn twisted the crystal necklace in her hand and then lifted the pendant toward the lights of the lab, looking at them through the center of it.  The way that the light bounced around--refraction, Galen told her--was fascinating.  Even more was how it turned the white light a soft orange instead._

_"Papa?"_

_"Hm?" Galen hummed in response, not looking up at her._

_She wondered if he was even listening, but she was still spinning lightly in the chair, playing with the crystal.  "Tell me about Mama's crystal."_

_That seemed to get Galen's attention.  He rocked back from being hunched over the lab table, wrapping his arms around himself and giving her a warm smile.  But his attention was enough to make her stop spinning and sit still.  It was time to hear her father speak._

_"It is called a kyber crystal.  We do not think there are many left," he said._

_Jyn wrapped her small fingers around it, feeling its jagged edges against the inside of her hand.  "Then we have to keep it here, right?  So no one loses it, or drops it."_

_Galen nodded in agreement.  "That's right."  Moving closer, he knelt down in front of her, lifting her hand up with the crystal so that her fingers open and it was displayed out for them._

_"Kyber is one of the hardest, strongest materials that we know of," he explained.  "It is more than that though.  It also holds great power."_

_Jyn felt as if the crystal grew heavier in her hand, but Galen's hand held up the weight of both of them.  "Do you see how it changes the light colors?" he asked, pointing to one of the slivers of orange light reflected on her hand._

_"Refraction!" Jyn said proudly with a toothless grin._

_Galen chuckled at her enthusiasm, leaning in to kiss her forehead before he continued. "Yes, very good, stardust.  Refraction is how the crystal bends the light as it passes through.  Do you see how it changes it?"_

_She nodded.  "How come it's not a rainbow?"_

_"Those would be prisms," he said gently.  "Kyber is more focused.  It has energy inside of it.  It is so strong that the Jedi used these crystals to power their lightsabers."_

_The Empire might not talk about the Jedi, but there were still plenty of stories.  Some of which she had heard from her parents anyway.  They couldn't_ _erase everything even if they tried.  The people remembered.  Jyn's eyes grew wide.  "Jedis?" she asked in awe._

_Her father simply nodded.  "Yes.  You understand, the Force grows these crystals.  They have the energy of the universe inside of them, that is why they are so strong."_

_"Is the Force really real, Papa?" she asked with wide eyes and all attention still on him._

_The Empire would have told her no._    _Later in life, she would discover that the Empire would deny anything that didn't serve them._ _But for now, she took what they told her._    _Galen wasn't the Empire though and denying the truth of the Force didn't do him any benefit._

_"It is," he said._   " _The Force is ever-present._    _I_ _t is within you, within me..."_

_"And Mama?"_

_He smiled again, touching her nose._    _"Certainly with Mama._    _It is within all things, even that which doesn't seem to be alive--the crystal._    _It is said that stars have hearts of kyber because the Force is what formed the universe and binds us to each other."_

_Clasping her small hand around the crystal, Galen pressed it gently against her heart._    _"You, my stardust, are made of the same._ _Trust in the Force, always, and the kyber will light your way."_

\--

He’d been dreaming. In the night, his mind dealt with all of the data from the past few days, absorbing and making sense of what it could and scrubbing the rest. Typically Cassian didn’t remember the process of his brain processing information as he slept as the schedule of an Imperial stormtrooper was a busy one and any sleep he got was well-deserved for the work he put out.

The one constant in his dreams that night was the presence of black-armored troopers and a white uniform standing out like a ray of light among them. No matter how many dreams he entered, the image came back until the sound of a low-flying shuttle that shook the safehouse startled him awake even before Bodhi started to pound on their door.

“We need to go, now! Troopers in the city!” Bodhi called through the door.

They were both on their feet in a second and neither Jyn nor Cassian looked at each other as they raced to get dressed.  His heart was pounding.  He had summoned them here--to bring them back, supposedly, but being woken so suddenly, it felt like being hunted to his instincts.  His instincts, so far, had not let him down.

"Where's K-2?" he asked a rather rattled but determined looking Bodhi.  The rest of them had gathered in the main room, ready to move.  Jyn and Cassian were the last.

"He was the one who alerted us," Bodhi said.

Scared, but functioning.  He'd gotten everyone together.  Maybe the rebel pilot was most useful in an emergency situation than he appeared, despite his lack of experience.  Cassian had seen officers with more experience crumble after only the first shots.

Jyn took quick survey of the situation and checked the clip in his rifle, snapping on the stock and pulling the barrel into a more accurate position.  "Let's move.  Cassian, take Chirrut and get K-2.  Circle around and meet us at the spaceport," she ordered.  "The rest of you, with me."

It was her element.  When the stakes were high, Jyn was at her best; thinking, moving, breathing the moment until it was over and they had won.  Losing wasn't an option.  It had gotten them out of countless situations in the past.

It wasn't going to go like that this time--it wasn't going to go her way, it was going to go his.  Cassian placed his hand on her arm as the others moved around, preparing to leave.  "I don't trust Chirrut," he said, only for her ears, little louder than a whisper.

Jyn looked back at him.  "Well I do.  Take him."  

Tightening his lips, Cassian just nodded.  They could argue, stay, be mowed over by the troops already advancing in the city, or he could go with it.  There would be no backing her down now.  But as he let go of her to turn away, she paused and reached for him again even if she didn't let her fingers touch him.  "Cassian.  Be careful."

He was taking a huge chance, perhaps even bigger than many of the other chances throughout his lifetime.  Things he had been forced into like telling her his name, taking his helmet off, trusting her.  It could fail him.  It could make him lose Jyn if she didn't understand.  At least she would be alive.

He turned back to her, reaching out to cup her face and kiss her, there in front of everyone.  He didn't care--let them see.

Galen cleared his throat in the background and Cassian let go of her, stepping back.  They did need to move.  "You be careful too."

Taking his blaster, he walked by Chirrut, not even pausing in his step.  "Let's go."

"I will be right behind you," the blind man said, gripping his staff.

\--

"I do not like the odds against us," K-2 said when they found it. 

“There are no odds. This isn’t fighting,” Cassian replied, just for the purpose of moving along. “We’re just distracting and then getting out of here.”

"There are always odds," K-2 replied shortly.  "And distracting _is_ fighting.  At least with you.  Between you and Jyn, you are incapable of actually running away from danger.  But what do I know, tactical probability is just my main programming."

Cassian grumbled. “You don’t have that programming anymore.”

All of that had changed when Cassian had to rebuild it. Yes, once, tactical probability among other things had been K-2SO’s main purpose but not anymore. As far as Cassian knew, there weren’t even any stored files in his memorybanks that corresponded with it. In order to save the droid, Cassian had to wipe it clean and start over.

It was hard to say what would happen with it when they went back to the Empire. Droids could be reprogrammed, but organics couldn’t. Jyn thought she could change herself around; maybe she thought she could change him too. They were still Imperials—they would fall back into the ranks and continue on.

It all made sense logically.

He’d met K-2 on a rooftop and used the height to look over the city—as much of it as they could as it washed over the wavy hillside.  The stormtroopers were blending in well and they weren’t so easily spotted.  Cassian knew his brothers though. They knew better than to come straight at a situation like Seplora city.

A couple of heavy drops of rain landed directly on his head.  It was a welcome cool relief to Seplora's heavy and humid atmosphere.  Storms were frequent it seemed with much of the planet covered in swamps, which pushed much of the population into dense cities with mazes of streets that continued to added on as the population increased.  That would be the challenge, and now the rain that picked up speed from the first few drops until it was a steady roar.

Cassian wished for his insulated armor.  He wished he had been able to convince Jyn to never leave.  Jedha hadn't deserved what happened to it but who's to say that other planets wouldn't? Who could stand against the Empire and who would want to in the first place?

He came around to Chirrut as they climbed down from the roof and their best vantage point, feeling himself duck automatically as the rain rolled down the back of his jacket, as if ducking would save him from it.  Instead, Chirrut stood up straight, unfazed by the rain he couldn't see in the first place.  Cassian unconsciously straightened up himself.

"Let's go.  We couldn't see anything from up there anyway," he said gruffly.

"She'll be okay," Chirrut offered.  

Pausing, Cassian turned back toward him sharply, defenses snapping up even at the mention of her.  "What?"

"Jyn.  You're worried.  She'll be all right," he explained calmly.

The blind man was going to drive him crazy one of these days. Cassian curled his hands into fists, but really, it was being called out for being worried, or for caring about Jyn.  That wasn't dangerous here.  It would be once they got back.

He still huffed impatiently. "We're wasting time."

\--

Cassian crouched next to an empty vendor stall at the edge of the main market square in the city, quickly grabbing his comlink.  "Bodhi.  You hear us?"

He could see them on a street to the left, also paused and taking cover.  Seplora city had a grand market; far bigger than the colorful stalls of Jedha.  There were a few people milling around, but with the first troopers starting to search the houses and stalls on the other side of the market, they were going to have to face them here.

<"Yeah, we hear you,"> Bodhi said, little louder than a whisper. <"We tried to get around but the alleys all lead here.">

Peeking over the box, Cassian watched one of the stormtroopers take a citizen and search them all over before letting them go. "No, there's no getting around them.  There are no other Rebels here, right?"

<"No, I don't-- They just sent me here.  There aren't any more Rebels.  Just us.  That's all,"> Bodhi said, visibly shaking his head.  <"We can't take on that many troopers.">

"No, we don't have to.  K and I, we'll distract them.  Stay to the left side and as out of sight as possible, move until you've got a way out of the square."  He looked back at the droid, and at Chirrut who just nodded silently.  He would be leading them straight to capture and he was trying desperately not to hate it.  This was the right thing, as much as Jyn felt it was the right thing by leaving.

<"Right, got it,"> Bodhi said.  But he paused, he didn't just start to move like a soldier would upon getting orders.  That was the kind of thing that Cassian was afraid of: freezing on the field was dangerous for everyone.  Bodhi wasn't frozen though; scared, maybe, but aware.  He was focused across on Cassian instead.  <"Good luck.  May the Force be with you.">

\--

_The first sign of trust was that Cassian sat in the cockpit of the stolen shuttle from Jedha with Bodhi on their way out of Imperial territory instead of in the back with the others._     _'Back' was relative because if Bodhi turned around, he could see everyone and hear them talking, including the huge, black droid looming behind them as it stared at a communications console._    _According to the pilot dash, the comm wasn't even on, so he didn't believe for a second that the droid was doing anything other than listening in and being prepared to do something if a conflict arose._    _Or if its master said something._

_The stormtrooper, Cassian, didn't say much._    _He watched out the viewscreen and he listened._    _He asked where they were going but Bodhi couldn't really tell him._

_"Honestly, I have coordinates but I've never been there," Bodhi said._   " _They wouldn't tell me, just sent them and said go._    _But um, I didn't even know I was picking you up until they told me."_

_The soldier nodded slowly._    _That was familiar, wasn't it?_ _As a pilot, Bodhi was used to being told where to go, only it usually wasn't by himself and without cargo or soldiers or something._

_"I just like knowing where we're going," he said, offering a shrug._

_Cassian rubbed his hands against his thighs, drawing in a breath slowly._ _"We go where we're told."_

_"I guess we do," Bodhi agreed._ _"Sometimes.."_

_More silence._ _After Jedha and barely getting out with Jyn and her father, the silence was nice._ _It was comforting._ _He almost forgot that Cassian used to be an enemy._ _At least he hoped that he used to be an enemy and wasn't still an enemy._ _If this was how the trip was going to go, then he was fine with that._

_Cassian shifted again, looking somewhat hesitant before he did speak._ _It was altogether unexpected._ _"Do you like this Rebellion?"_

_He blinked, chewing the inside of his lip._ _Not only was the other man asking him a question slightly startling, but it was that Bodhi didn't think he ever considered it._ _"I guess I do._ _I mean, it's all I've known," he said._

_Silence lingered but Bodhi didn't let it stay too long._ _He kept his voice quiet. The droid was listening but hearing the quiet conversations behind them, he knew the others weren't._ _If he had any doubt, it would be only for Cassian._

_"Sometimes I think we're not right._ _Maybe I'm not right._    _Maybe I should be doing something else."_ _Bodhi looked down at his hands. "The Rebels pitched it to us when I was a boy, that anyone could help. It didn't matter what you did._ _I wanted to pilot fighters, be a soldier and win victories and I fly cargo ships._ _That's it._ _Life growing up was horrible; there was no food, almost never, and we were just.. There were stormtroopers on the streets and they only answered to their own rules. That was the Empire. They didn’t help anyone, they just ruled over them."_

_"I grew up in a war zone," Bodhi said._ _"I'd do anything to stop it but sometimes the things that the soldiers do, or the spies even?_ _I don't know if I could._ _The Rebellion, for everything that we've done, we have to be good or there's no good possible."_

_Cassian didn't reply._ _Bodhi had said too much, he knew it._    _That was one of his weaknesses._ _Their alliance was so shaky and what if he had just destroyed it by telling the truth?_

_"We can't question orders," Cassian said hoarsely._ _"Even if they're wrong._ _Would you?_ _Could you do that?"_

_Bodhi stared at him._ _No, no this was good._ _This was progress._    _They could talk, he could do this._

_He wanted someone who understood what it was like to live war the way he did._

_"Well.. yeah._ _I think so._ _Maybe you'd get yelled at but if it's wrong, you've got a reason._ _That's why we're standing up now._ _Because this is wrong."_

_"Not everyone thinks that," Cassian said._ _"You believe, don't you? In the Rebellion, you believe in that._ _Those of us, my brothers, they believe in the Empire."_

_Part of him couldn’t believe he was having this kind of a conversation with a stormtrooper—or at least former stormtrooper. All of the spies in the base probably wished they were there to pick his brain for details. But, Bodhi thought, what if they had just killed him first. He might believe in the Rebellion as Cassian said, but they were hardly subtle._

_"Were you given that choice though? I remember what it was like with no war. I remember what it was like to be free and what it was like to be under the Empire and we’re making a choice. No one can do that for us,” Bodhi replied._

_Even if Cassian was going to say something else, the pilot console started flashing as they arrived at their destination. As quickly as the discussion had started, it blinked away as if belief and choice were the least of their concerns._

\--

The hammering rain did make it harder to see and the rumble of thunder up above them didn’t help matters any. It could mask their movements, but it would also make it harder to track the stormtroopers searching dwellings across the market square with the thick clouds that covered Seplora’s normally bright moons. With a lightning flash, Cassian could see the entire courtyard lit up for a second, just giving him a glimpse of where everyone was located.

Bodhi, with Jyn behind him, Baze and Galen were ready to move as soon as they had Cassian’s signal. They just needed to draw the stormtroopers’ attention before the saw the other group. But something didn’t feel right. It was the same feeling Cassian had when he didn’t see the troopers right away—something in this city was off and he couldn’t place it. He knew better than to distrust his instinct.

Moving closer, he was about to step out and fire the first shot. It would ignite everything and stir up the nest of insects, but at least it would be on their terms.

“ _Cassian_.”

It broke his concentration on the moment and another flash of lightning showed Chirrut’s face, staring intently off into the darkness until he shuffled closer, placing a hand on Cassian’s arm to direct his focus elsewhere. He didn’t even have time to challenge Chirrut or show his irritation at being interrupted.

“Wait. There’s more,” Chirrut whispered. “We’re not alone.”

As if for the first time, Cassian looked around the edges of the market square and a scatter of lightning above them lit up dozens of faces in the nearby allies. Cassian let go of anything to do with Chirrut interrupting him for the shock and dread of what had escaped not only his notice but also K-2’s and was instead felt by a blind man.

“Oh, kriff..” He counted eight soldiers next to them and another squad of them across the way. There were even more approaching the stormtroopers in silence and darkness. Bodhi said there were no Rebels here and maybe they weren’t Alliance, but they were about to start a rebellion right there in the square. A distraction not on their terms would be chaos.

Cassian grasped his comlink desperately. “Bodhi! Bodhi stop, don’t move! Troops all around us—Rebel troops everywhere!”

A yell preceded the first explosion and then it was too late as all of them sprang into action at once. They had no choice but to be swept up into the action.

\--

"Where the kriff did they come from?"  Jyn pulled Bodhi down next to her, away from the rush of the Seplora soldiers.  Baze held his arm out in front of Galen, throwing them both back against a damp wall.  It was going to be hard enough to sneak out with the stormtroopers shooting at Cassian and Chirrut but now there were people everywhere.

They all knew if the troopers got any glimpse of Galen, they would shoot to kill.

Bodhi looked around with wide eyes, tracking the blasts of lasers and any glimpse of the whole battlefield with flashes of lightning that froze faces in bodies in place just for a second before the action resumed in the darkness.  How had this happened?

"I don't know!" Bodhi said quickly.  "I don't know where they came from!  They told me no one was here, these.."

"The villagers," Baze said behind them.

Rebels came in all sizes.  They were Alliance, and miners, and traders, and the mercenaries on Kafrene or the merchants on Seplora.  They were former Imperial operatives too, and sometimes death troopers.  These rebels were not the kind that Bodhi knew and he didn't know how to deal with it.

"What do we do?" Bodhi asked, looking to Jyn.

Her face was set, staring out into the rain.  Bodhi could see Cassian out there joining in the fray.  Chirrut flipped his staff, clocking two stormtroopers and knocking them down and delivering a final blow that ensured they wouldn't get up.  Even the droid picked up  a trooper and used the man's body to annihilate another one.

"We can't stay here.  We need to move."  Jyn reached back for Galen, grabbing his hand.  "Stay with me, Papa."

They would get through, they had to.  "The Force will guide us," Baze said, as if completing Bodhi's thoughts.

\--

They had always in the past found a way to use chaos, even when it was unexpected.  Cassian could see Jyn across the field of battle, he could even see paths to get to her, but something was always blocking him.  K-2 was cutting down stormtroopers as if they had never been allied in the first place, and Chirrut was the master of the battle dance, whirling his staff around with deadly precision and the skill of the extinct Jedi.  If Cassian wasn't able to do something to stop the bleeding of the battle, the stormtroopers would kill them all just out of necessity.  It was supposed to be a capture, not a slaughter.

With the vigor that the locals fought with, Cassian also imagined that capture by the rebels, or surrender--defection, whatever Jyn wanted to call it--was going to go equally as well with what ever violence or interrogation that the Alliance saw fit for them.  They were not heroes.  They were the enemy.  Now they were the enemy of both sides and at least with the Empire they had a chance at survival.

Now he just needed a plan-..

The explosion threw him back suddenly, cutting him off from K-2 and Chirrut with a line of rubble and fire erupting even in the rain.  Cassian skidded across the wet ground and covered his head from the falling debris.  He missed his armor for the millionth time.  At least then he'd have shelter and protection.  And belonging.

He risked looking up and scrambled to feet.  They were bringing in artillery--three AT-STs trudged into the market square, firing down on the new surge of rebellious villagers.  Every time lightning scattered across the sky, he got another view of the increasing field of white troopers.  Only white and multiplying faster than the villagers could cope with.

Cassian had to trust his brothers as he had countless times before, but this was not a rescue force, nor was it a suppressing force for a village uprising.  It was an extermination.

\--

The explosion was still ringing in his ears.  For a moment, Bodhi heard nothing but the rain; the cold splatter of drops on face, washing off some of the mud and debris from the blast.  Just the rain, no more fighting.  No more violence.

It came rushing back with a scream.  The wounded--a villager nearby was mourning the loss of his legs.  Another was trapped under scrap metal from one of the merchant stands, crying out for help from anyone who would listen.  With the fire that split the section off from the main part of the square, no one came to help.  The rest were either wounded or dead, and anyone on the other side were holding off the stormtroopers.

Bodhi climbed to his feet, running over as soon as he found his legs again, intent on helping.  They weren't the only ones trapped on the other side of the firey divide.  One of the two-legged walkers thundered past on the other side and lightning shot across the sky, giving him vision enough to see the dazed trooper who had been caught in the blast setting his sights on them.

Blaster, now.  He needed it.  Bodhi grabbed the blaster pistol that had been strapped to his leg, fumbling desperately to get it up in time, and he fired at the trooper as many times as it took until the man fell.  He breathed out and reached down to help the trapped villager again.  They were all Rebels now.

But Jyn--he needed to get back to her. They must have gotten separated.

“Where is-.. My communicator!” he said out-loud. Bodhi grabbed his comlink, mashing down the button and desperately hoping to hear voices at the other end. “Jyn; Jyn, where are you? Can you hear me?”

\--

<”We’re pinned down!”> Jyn said.  <”Where the kriff did these walkers come from?”>

<"I don't know.  Wait, let me get to you.  Cassian?"> Bodhi called out.

From the other side of the burning rubble, Cassian could see Jyn, but he couldn't get to her.  He didn't have any idea where Bodhi was--had he been trapped on this side?  It was too hard to tell in the dark and the blowing rain.  K-2 wasn't with him.  He _could_ see Chirrut too, cutting his way through the stormtroopers as effectively as the artillery fire of any Imperial tank, but the waves of troopers never seemed to stop.

One of the walkers blew away the entire side of a building with enough force to shake the ground he was standing on.  Because the galaxy around him was changing its view of right and wrong into shades of reality that Cassian was resisting with all of his might, that he didn’t realize until it was too late that he had dug his heels in on the wrong side.

"K-2, wherever you are, get to Jyn," Cassian ordered.  "I'm here, I got cut off, but I'm here.  We have to keep pushing through. I'll find a way, I'll meet you on the other side."

He had to abandon his plan.  However wrong he had been to think that it would be easy, there was still time to get them out alive.  He could still hope and fix his mistake for calling them here, causing all of this... all of it.

<"My evaluation states that this is not an average strike force. This is an extermination mission.  Someone alerted them to our presence,"> K-2 said suddenly, voicing the nauseating regret in Cassian's mind.

He felt actually sick--did anyone actually know?  

<"Who could have done that?"> Jyn demanded.  <"None of the villagers know us.  They can't possibly!">

She would want answers when this was over. He had to move, or he'd die, but the conversation over the comm only made him sink lower and lower.  It wasn't an option to leave Jyn, he couldn't just conveniently step into the line of fire and solve his immediate problem or he'd fail her.  But if he thought the Rebellion would lock them up before, then he had certainly sealed his fate now.

“We can’t talk about this right now. We need to get out. That is the priority.” Cassian sounded a lot more certain than he felt and he expected Jyn to come back and counter him. After all, she issued the orders and he followed them.

She didn’t. <”Come find us, Cassian. Hurry,”> she said.

\--

Bodhi had lost his goggles, and with the rain so heavy it was the one time he might have been able to use them. Instead, his hair clung to his face and with so much water dripping everywhere it was hard to keep it out of his eyes. In the chaos of the battle, the entry of the walkers, stopping to help the villager.. he could hear Jyn on his comlink but he couldn’t see her anymore. He didn’t know where they had gone, or which way was up anymore. There was danger all around and Bodhi couldn’t see a way out, just fire splitting the field and the thunder of the rain and AT-STs.

He pushed forward,  scrambling out, away, anywhere.  If he could get out of yet square, he could figure out where to go, but it seemed like everywhere he turned, another stormtrooper was there and he dove behind cover or ran in the other direction for one of the rebel villagers to shoot the enemy down.

Still, he avoided them, coming close too close to the line of fire more than once.  But he was getting close to a way out, he thought.  Bodhi ducked down, avoiding an influx of insurgents, and he tumbled over a broken merchant cart to get away from them.

Was that a way out?  He was almost there.  Then he could join up with Jyn.  They would make it after all.  Thunder cracked above him and a flash of lightning illuminated the walker lurking in front of him.  It blocked his exit, but it had also seemed to come out of nowhere.

Bodhi tried to backpedal, eyes wide, and the walker stepped with the ground-shaking authority of the Empire, catching his movement and trying to zero in on him.  Blast it. There was nowhere to run in time. No cover to hide him.

Faster than the AT-ST could even target him, someone pulled him away by his arm, even enough that they were out of the line of fire. They were still thrown to the side by the blast of the charges hitting the ground and Bodhi rolled behind some rubble, gripping his blaster again and raising it up with the speed of adrenaline. The walker moved on but now he was caught with who knows who, from what ever side, and Bodhi had already blasted the other stormtrooper full of holes to get away—he’d do it again.

In fact, his hand was shaking and his heart pounding so hard that even as the image of Cassian, who had indeed been the one to pull him to safety, came into focus in front of him, he still didn’t lower the blaster. Gerrera’s test came back to him: suddenly he was there in the cool dirt rooms of the ancient temple on Jedha, holding a blaster toward a known ally, but unable to make himself lower it. Against his chest, he started to feel the heat of his crystal reacting with something—perhaps his heart.

\--

_When they made the rendezvous, when Bodhi was shocked to come face to face with Jyn again and the first stormtrooper to not treat him with hostility, he risked a voice call to the Alliance.  The signal was bounced from satellite, listening station, more satellites and through a dozen worlds before it reached its destination on Yavin.  The sequence changed every time and Bodhi had to memorize so many codes to even transmit but that was the life of a pilot._

_The stir on the base had caused enough to even get the general involved.  It was the third time in his lifetime that Bodhi had spoken to a general. <"We're sending you coordinates.  There's someplace to stay there.  You need to lose what ever tail the Empire will have on you,"> Draven ordered._

_"Are you--.."  Bodhi was a better pilot than that, he could lose them.  But the general, he had to be certain or he wouldn't have said so.  They had precious cargo--they needed to take precautions.  "Yes sir.  I mean, I'll get us there."_

_< "Listen, pilot."> Draven said. <”These are not our friends or allies. We don’t know them. Be on your guard. Trust no one but your instincts. If there is danger, do not bring it here.”>_

_He got a sense that Draven wouldn’t have to tell that to a normal spy. Maybe another Rebel spy would have tried to get the information out of them and then killed them. He’d heard all kinds of stories. The Rebellion wasn’t a shining hero, it was just desperate._

_“Sir-..” Bodhi started, but Draven cut him short again._

_< ”Do what you have to do, Rook. We only need information. Not people.”>_

\--

“Bodhi—Bodhi, it’s me. Put the blaster down.”

It was just Cassian. But what was he doing here? How had he gotten here so fast? Bodhi had seen the man take down targets on the field with disturbing accuracy and that was the reminder there that despite his civilian clothing, Cassian had always been a soldier of the Empire. He was trained to kill, even moreso than the standard white troopers. He was trained to follow orders and be a machine.

Whose orders was he following now? Realization washed over him with another rush of adrenaline. Was this the danger Draven had been warning him about? He couldn’t lead Imperial forces to Yavin; the Rebellion wasn’t strong enough to withstand a full on attack.

Trust his instincts. Bodhi was the pilot, not a spy. His pilot instincts said run, far away. Get away from the danger before it destroyed them. But the burning kyber crystal at his heart said to hope for better.

Bodhi lowered the blaster and gave into trust. “Force, Cassian..”

Even the stoic soldier looked relieved to not have a friendly blaster pointed at him. Cassian let out a breath and then reached for Bodhi’s arm to pull him up. “Wait for that walker to move, then we go.”

Yes, he’d made the right choice. Together, they could get out of all of this and leave the fight to the planet. Bodhi moved closer, crouching next to their cover, and then when the time was right, they moved again.

\--

It was much easier with Cassian leading. So far he had collected the pilot, now he had to connect with the others and get them out too. One thing at a time. He could fix this.

Cassian found a way out, running Bodhi harder to get to it, but he wasn’t going to just turn his back and leave the rest of his team on the ground behind them. Pausing next to the alleyway, Cassian took some cover and grabbed his comlink, looking back at the fight. Other fires had sprung up in the rain—burning rubble and oil that the water didn’t put out, but it gave light where there had only been flashes of lightning to let them see before. Now he could see a bigger scope of the chaos.

There were a lot of dead. More than a few white troopers on the ground, but plenty of insurgents as well. Hard to tell if it was anyone they knew.

“Jyn? We’re out of the market. What’s your location?”

There was no answer right away and in those seconds, Cassian knew all of the aspects of dread at once. But then the comlink crackled back to life.

<”We’re here. Coming to you. Hold tight.”>

Bodhi even clapped his back in relief and Cassian didn’t risk looking at him and betraying anything at all. “We’re waiting. Head toward-..” He paused, trying to scan the field with his eyes to see them, but a different flash of white caught his vision.

He knew that cape. The Director had arrived on the battlefield, with a complement of Cassian’s brothers. The final end to the extermination force. He should have been relieved to see it but it was the opposite entirely. He’d made such a mistake thinking that they could ever get out of this mess, that Krennic would take them back.

He gripped the comlink harder as if she would feel the desperation through it. “Jyn, Krennic is here! Get out now!”

“Cassian-..” She was cut-off by a turbulent blast from a rocket launcher. He recognized the blast as it flashed in front of them, visibly knocking people back. Her comlink turned to static.

Bodhi’s eyes widened and Cassian sprung to his feet. “Jyn!”

They were almost out of the fight, and now Cassian was charging back in.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. Apparently stress doesn't equal an adequate environment for writing. I haven't abandoned this story, my progress is just a lot slower these days, however here we go! Also, if Human by Rag N Bone Man is canon Cassian's song, then My Name Is Human by Highly Suspect is Imperial Cassian's song and in the next few chapters, he's about to come face to face with his god.

Chapter 10

 

In all of Galen’s years, he had seen far too many battles.  For him, the sight of war over and over had turned him toward pacifism.  By contrast, it had turned Krennic into a ruthless machine, uncaring about anything in his way.  His only real motivation anymore was power and its acquisition.

Galen had lived around him long enough to remember a time when Orson had been motivated by other things, though as he did look back, the hunger for power had always been there.  As a boy striving to be noticed for his intelligence, coming from a mediocre and otherwise not noteworthy beginning, and growing into the young officer who learned the power that discipline, authority and destruction held for him.  Krennic claimed to have found himself in the Empire, but Galen knew that he lost him to it.

Of recent years, Krennic had been on a self-inflicted quest for power that to Galen on the outside appeared as nothing more than madness.  He called it his rod of iron, of which he intended to shape the fate of the Empire and even the galaxy.  When Galen heard the words on Jyn's comlink that Krennic was on the battlefield, he knew that the man he knew now would stop at nothing to preserve his authority as if he was the Emperor himself.

He had no idea how much Krennic knew of their plan, or Galen's sabotage.  He frequently blinded himself, whether it was Galen himself or his drive to complete the weapon or win the favor of the Emperor, and it had allowed Galen to work that much harder to destroy his own greatest work that had been constructed with the purpose of terror.  It was also somehow fitting that they would meet again on a battlefield, on opposite sides.  In the end, Krennic's real power was to destroy the relationships around him.

<"Jyn, Krennic is here!  Get out now!">

For a second, Galen saw the flash of a white uniform across the market square, lit up by something other than lightning.  A projectile launch.  Incoming.  Jyn.

"Cassian-.."

He had just the presence of mind to think of Jyn and the instinct to push his daughter away from danger. It might not save her; they both went flying anyway at the impact of the blast.

\--

Jyn rolled onto her hands and knees, trying to shake the ringing out of her ears.  She had always had good survival instincts even if it meant that she ran into a dangerous situation--she always knew how to survive and get herself out of it.  She also had Cassian by her side the whole time.  So as her instincts screamed at her to get up and move, her consciousness still on the battlefield, but her body was too slow to respond to her commands.

And Cassian wasn't there to pull her to her feet.

She had to move, she had to--.. Krennic was there.  Cassian's last warning.  Jyn had no doubt he had come to kill them for their betrayal.  This wasn't going to be a reasonable talk to bring them home.  Any image of Krennic that was associated with reasonable or merciful was gone, however extreme it was.  Why hadn't he just blasted them with his death laser by now anyway? That had to be more the real Krennic.

As she moved toward getting up, trying not to think about any surface injuries, she heard a comm-burst of a deep, dark mechanical noise.  Death troopers.  Jyn felt for her blaster, trying to find where it had skittered in the slick rain as she fell, and there a few feet away was her father, lying on his back, one leg drawn uncomfortably under his body and his hands frozen in pain above his chest.

He had pushed her away.  She remembered.  Galen took the brunt of the blast.

The death troopers, they were nearby, but she kept low as she moved, pulling herself over toward Galen. She needed to get him up and moving now. They could deal with injuries on the ship, they just needed-.. they needed to go. Galen needed to come with them. There was no alternative.

She came across a blaster from a fallen soldier as she came up next to his body and she placed her hand on his shoulder. “Papa. Papa, come _on_ ,” she insisted, trying to revive him.

\--

_“Papa. Why won’t Mama come home?” she asked. Even against her stubborn, child’s will, Jyn’s emotions refused to listen to her and tears welled up in her eyes again. “I want Mama to come home!”_

_Galen fixed everything, that was his job with the Empire. He made things for Uncle Orson, he built things and he made them work. So why couldn’t he fix this?_

_He closed his eyes, seeming just, well, tired. In fact, his eyes were red-rimmed too, much like hers. “Oh, my stardust,” he whispered as he breathed out. “Come here.”_

_Jyn didn’t have to be told again. Immediately, she wormed her way into his lap and tried to bury herself as much as she could into his chest. Even her crystal—Mama’s crystal—felt warm again pressed up against Papa. “I miss Mama,” she said with a sniffle._

_“I know, Jyn.” Galen stroked her hair slowly. “I miss her too.” When he paused, the next words seemed difficult, as if it was actually hard to form them and make them come out of his mouth. “Mama is not coming back.”_

_She knew. Jyn knew that she wasn’t, but she still asked. Couldn’t there be something that they could do? She swallowed, sniffing again and wiping her face with her sleeve. “Did the Force take her away?”_

_For a moment, she thought Galen might have laughed. There was a hitch in his chest that she felt against her cheek. But she didn’t think it was a laugh. How could someone laugh about something that made them unhappy._

_“No, stardust, the Force did not take her away. That is life. The Force calls to us in the end, it doesn’t take. Other things do that. Old age, illness, other people…” Galen leaned down and kissed the top of her head. His voice caught again on his words. “It is the way of all things.”_

_Jyn screwed her face up and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block the tears, but she couldn’t. They came anyway. “I hate the Force! I want Mama back!”_

\--

Opening his eyes to look up at the face of his daughter had never brought Galen so much joy and pain at once.  She looked so much like her mother and she was a young woman.  Of course, she had been for a number of years now, but Galen swore that with the knowledge that he was dying, he watched her grow up again in front of him, there in the rain on Seplora.

"Papa, please!  It's me!"

He watched the tears well up and remembered soothing her first tears and the way her hand curled around his finger in security. She jumped on his bed and tackled him awake, or came to him in the middle of the night after a bad dream.  She was taller, coming into her own, but under the influence of Krennic, only she retained her innocent smile.  She was a soldier, but the way that she looked at her bodyguard the soldier, told him that there was still hope left.

She was his hope.  

"My stardust."  Galen reached for her cheek, touching her face one last time.  He wanted to hang on for her but, he felt it.  He could almost see Lyra behind her beckoning him on and he was at peace with it.  "There is so much I still must tell you."

Until he wasn't.  No, he couldn't leave her here.  Jyn captured his hand, begging him to stay, to get up and move.  He recalled the way she begged him to show her all of the prototype ships in the shipyard on Coruscant.  The way she tried to drag him up a hill, laughing the whole way.  She pulled him down a hallway to show him the tower she had built in her play room.

Now she begged him to stay and he didn't want to leave.  But, Lyra.. he swore he heard her voice too.  It had been a long time.

Their little girl would be fine.  Galen had given her as much as he could even though he wished for more.  It was enough.  It had to be enough.  As his hand fell away from her face, Jyn's light faded from his sight and he left her to become one with Lyra and the Force.

\--

_Without seeing his face, Jyn had no concept of TX-7221's age.  From his voice, he didn't sound old, but it was hard to tell with how altered and distorted the voices of the Death troopers became from their helmets.  It enhanced the terror that preceded them._

_Sometimes she thought about it: whether or not she was older (which she imagined she had to be as a teenager); how it was that he was likely taking essential and life-or-death orders from someone younger than him; how long had he been in that armor or armor of any kind?  How old was he when he saw his first battle?_

_While he remained a mystery that she pretended not to be interested in, Jyn was an open book by comparison.  Nothing to hide her face, though she pushed herself to be in control of her emotions.  After all, Jyn knew what it was to have hardship. She'd lost her mother as a child, she'd pushed herself to climb up on Krennic's list of trusted assets.  She was tough, unmatched even.  Nothing could compromise that._

_In fact, Krennic was giving her harder and more important assignments that ranged from deliver this data to escort this prisoner instead of just maintain a surveillance perimeter and report back.  Most recently there was even infiltrate, gather intelligence and obtain a target.  It was her most dangerous and complicated assignment to date and she was doing all of it as a teenager._

_So what had TX-7221 seen by comparison that allowed him to take down multiple enemies at close range without even batting an eye--as much as she could tell with the helmet.  Especially when the way that the bolt from the blaster Krennic gave her hitting its target straight in the heart should have been cause for celebration but her hand wouldn't stop shaking.  Jyn was an excellent marksman; she had to be--one of the best._

_She had never killed anything before and she was close enough now to see the agony on the raider's face as he fell.  That was what it felt like.  To take a life.  Jyn had stared into the face of death many times, but she had never been the one to deliver it._

_The raider might have been her age.  Might have been TX-7221's age.  What if she had to put him down one day.  What if it came to that?  She tried to steel herself but all she felt was cold in the already wind-swept corridors of the city._

_"Jyn."  7221 grabbed her shoulder, shaking her out of it.  "Erso!  He's dead.  We need to move."_

_"I know he's dead!" she snapped, turning her rage and all of her emotion into pushing him square in his armor.  Jyn hated how cool he was about this--how could he do this without feeling.  She hated Krennic, just for the moment, for even sending her_

_7221 just took a step back.  Her first kill, that was all.  The first of many.  It was best to get used to it now.  "Then what is the hold up?" he asked, not challenging her in any other way._

_Jyn seethed but she didn't unleash her energy and she swallowed down her feelings, trying to quell the one that told her that the sight of all of it should make her sick.  "There's no problem.  Take the lead."_

_Later, on the ship, he would pretend he didn't see her crying in the back and preserve her dignity.  It wouldn't happen again after that._

\--

Galen was dead.  Cassian could tell by his posture on the ground, lit up briefly in the dark by the lightning and glow of the fires around them; the way that his body was rigid and lax at the same time, the awkward angle of his arm.  He'd seen death so many times that Cassian knew what a body looked like when life left it.

He knew in his conscious mind that it should have struck him more, that this was the time to feel something if ever for death, the way that Jyn did as she desperately cried for her father to come back, but the crunch and lumber of a walker nearby and the even more terrifying sound of a Death Trooper comm burst forced him into action.  They had to leave the dead for the dead--there was no time for this.

Cassian grabbed Jyn, trying to pull her backward.  "Jyn, he's gone.  Jyn!"

She fought against him, throwing her elbow back against him and only finding muscle and resistance, not armor.  "I can't _leave_ him!" she shouted into the storm.  "Papa!"

"Jyn no, listen to me!" he demanded.  Suddenly, she stilled in his grasp--she'd heard his voice and he'd finally broken through.  "He's gone."  Cassian didn't offer sympathies.  Now wasn't the time.  But he felt her body quiver against his with emotion--rage, loss, all dangerous things making her reckless.

At least she listened.  He held her still, just for a moment, wishing that he could take it all away from her.  He didn't even want to think that all of this was because he'd brought the Empire down upon them.  It would be time for that later.  So, he held her for a second longer than he should have and pressed his nose against the side of her damp hair.

Then another comm burst, closer this time.  "Kriff, Jyn!"

She looked up with wide eyes too, knowing exactly what that meant.  They needed to run now, but the Death Troopers were too close.  Still as they were, they might not attract attention.  They'd just be part of the dead.  Cassian pressed her down onto the ground and against his body, holding her head with his hand and holding his breath in his chest.

Too late to run now.

There was the sound of boots sloshing through a puddle nearby and Cassian caught a glimpse of black legs passing by next to a pile of rubble.  He had never had to face his brothers in combat and instead, he laid still with Jyn on the wet ground, pretending to be dead with the real dead nearby.  This was not how it should have gone.

One trooper paused, talking to another in harsh, garbled static.  They should have been able to see the two living people in front of them but Cassian could feel one of the rubble fires burning next to them hot enough to warm his face.  That would be confusing their heat tracking.

"When this one passes," he whispered.  "Then we go."

"I’m going to kill them," she whispered back in a strangled voice.

"They'll kill us first."

They had moved back far enough away from Galen's body, but he was still laid out in front of them and as one of the Death troopers came out of the hazy rain, he paused to look down at the body and pushed it with his foot to ensure it was dead. As soon as he saw it, Cassian tensed, knowing the fight that was coming but he also felt the moment that Jyn erupted. He tried to hold her down--no amount of force would have contained her anyway as she ripped herself from his arms and came up, blaster pistol zeroed in on the trooper.

She fired at him with all of her will and her rage and the loss of her father until the blaster chamber was empty and the trooper fell down to his knees and flopped to the side.

Cassian was stunned into silence, even with danger all around them. Death troopers weren't indestructible. Their numbers had taken blows more than once and they were always replaced as if there was an endless supply. He knew that trooper--that man had a number like his.

He gritted his teeth as he heard another blast of garbled static and he shot at the dark figure next to them. One hit in the shoulder. The chest. The stomach. Frak the Empire. Jyn was avenging her father but Cassian was destroying his number and he had needed to feel the wrath of the Empire for it to happen. She looked up at him--blood, dirt and ash on her face and enough water that any tears had washed in with it and he would never know the difference, but they stood against the Empire together now and that was all that mattered.

They needed to move now, but once they started moving, it would draw all the attention to them and as much as she might want to take on the entire death trooper squad, they would be easily overrun. He grabbed her arm again to move--once they started, they couldn't stop again or they would get pinned down. "Jyn, now!"

She listened this time, scrambling back, but she gripped his arm tighter as she came across another one on their right and another one running toward some cover, visible in a flash of lightning. They had entered the serpents’ den and they were surrounded in every possible way by some of the Empire’s most highly trained combat specialists. They could take down one or two, but they would be easily overwhelmed as the death troopers kept coming.

Jyn fired again, desperately, hitting the hunk of metal the trooper was hiding behind, and Cassian tugged her arm as they tried to run through the fire zone, making the blaster fire from the trooper narrowly miss her. The next shot hit her arm though and she cried out, more in surprise than pain. Cassian looked back to try to keep her going with him, but he almost ran right into all of it himself as there was a spray of blast bolts that hit the ground right at his feet. They would not make it out of here alive.

It came from out of nowhere. The death troopers blended in far too much with the darkness of the planet and the storm that by the time the trooper was aiming at him, it was too late to notice before he even fired. But that was when _it_ came out of nowhere. K-2 suddenly stepped in front of them, effectively knocking them out of the way, so that it took the blaster hits with not so much as even a stagger, and then it rushed forward with long strides to grab the trooper, yanking it off of the ground and slamming it back down.

Cassian fell with the force of K-2’s shove, pulling Jyn along with him, only watching as the droid dispatched another trooper. Then, with a cry, there was Chirrut, leaping over a box and taking down another one with only his staff and the element of surprise.

It was a rescue. The others had come for them; the rest of their small rebellion. That would be the only opportunity that they would have to get away.

He looked at Jyn again, watching her astonishment as K-2 ripped into an enemy soldier with the blaster shots still glowing on its torso from burning through its outer casing. That K-2 had come for them, pushed them down and taken a blaster bolt meant for her was hard to imagine given their relationship. Cassian yes, but this was Jyn also. And Chirrut, who played loosely with the rules of sides.

Baze was nearby; Cassian heard as he called out to them. He didn’t say anything, he just tugged on Jyn’s arm.

As they got up to run through the distraction, Cassian looked back one more time. Krennic was there, with the fire light reflecting off of his white uniform, and for a moment they both saw each other. He paused, taking in Krennic’s face with cold rage and colder betrayal, and he let Krennic see his face too.

Cassian raised his blaster and fired off a single shot. It was too far away, the bolt struck the side of a building nearby, but Krennic flinched and it was enough of a warning. There was no going back, and if Krennic dared to try again, Cassian would kill him. It only served to fuel the Director’s rage and harden Cassian’s resolve as he ran off into the storm with Jyn.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've heard that conflicting loyalties are all the rage these days. All the cool kids are doing it. Besides, it has to get better at some point, right?

Chapter 11

 

Bodhi had never run so hard from something in his entire life. Not the other kids in the streets of the holy city, not the stormtroopers who invaded and chased them when they had to steal food to eat. Not even, interestingly enough, the destruction of Jedha city and the surrounding areas with the first herald of terror from the Death Star. He ran so hard his hands shook, his face turned red with the heat of his blood, and his stomach threatened everything, but he made it to the ship and nearly fell as he stopped too suddenly and his feet got tangled together, slipping on the wet floor from his dripping clothes.

Get the ship started, get ready for take-off. They'd only have a few precious moments before the Empire would realize and start chasing their ship, not that they could truly track them through hyperspace without some kind of homing beacon. Best to ditch the ship somewhere and get a new one just to be safe. He couldn't risk Yavin.

He scrubbed at his eyes, trying to clear the water from his face so he could see, and furiously flipped switches, bringing up computers and prepping for launch. He reached across the other seat, taking on the copilot's job too. No time for pre-flight safety checks. They would be okay. They had to be okay.

"Oh Force.." he breathed out. "Just get us the kriff out of here."

Cassian had not been behind him. He pushed Bodhi down the only alley in the maze of the center of town that went toward the city hanger with orders to get the ship ready. They would be blasting out in a big hurry. But he had no idea if they were even coming behind him, or how soon. Or if they were alive.

Or if the Empire wouldn't find him first.

Bodhi placed his hand over the blaster stuck in his belt, just in case. He was alone here and if anyone snuck up on him, he would easily get cornered. He shivered--his skin suddenly felt chilled by his wet clothes and a breeze from outside, as if someone was coming up behind him.

Suddenly, he was very aware how quiet it was in the ship; how far away he was from the battle. In the few moments before the engine started to warm up, it was just the sound of the heavy rain outside, then the hum of electronics and mechanics coming to life. No more screaming or explosions. This part of the city was silent and away from all of the activity. It was also vulnerable.

He continued warming up the ship, trying not to think about the battle and focus on that the team would be coming back soon enough because he trusted them. He had to focus on his hope, not his worries. They would be here, they-..

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he thought he heard something and Bodhi’s hand stilled over the console. Nothing, just silence. But as he reached for the next switch, he heard it again—the creak of metal and scuffing. Kriff, someone was there after all.

Going ahead to flip the switch with one hand, he reached down for the blaster with his other and slowly pulled it out, not wanting to make any sudden movements or get caught with his guard down. He didn't want them to know he had heard them if they were trying to sneak up but with his heart pounding so hard, Bodhi couldn't hear anything else anyway.

He got up from his seat, wincing as it creaked, and held the blaster against his chest as he moved out of the cockpit toward the cargo hold. No one visible. No one-.. movement, out of the corner of his eye. Bodhi's arm whipped up so fast that his muscles screamed at him and he fired wildly, causing Cassian to barely duck out of the way in time and the blaster bolt hit the wall behind him.

"For Force's sake, Cassian!" he shouted at him.

Cassian still looked back with wide eyes, but just like before, his face was altogether calm. He didn't yell or get upset. Bodhi's hand shook with the weight of the blaster that he couldn't quite put down yet--it had rattled him too much to get the signal from his brain to his hand.

Instead, Cassian just put his hands up slowly near his shoulders, showing he was unarmed or unhostile, and he edged closer, speaking like he was calming a wild animal. "Bodhi. Just put it down."

Maybe it was a reaction to everything that he froze, even knowing that Cassian was a friendly face. It was the second time this had happened... "The _second time_ Cassian!" Bodhi said, forcing his arm down. "That's the second-.. Force, I could have shot you!"

"It's okay, you didn't," Cassian said with the most unaffected tone Bodhi had ever heard from someone who had nearly been killed just now.

"Why does this keep happening--it's not that I don't trust _you_ because you're not one of the bad guys," Bodhi stressed. "Right?"

Right, of course. He had to justify it. It wasn't that he was jumpy or that his nerves were standing on all ends, or that he was just plain terrified; nor was it that Cassian was an enemy. He trusted the man. He had to.

Cassian breathed out and just nodded his head. "Right." No friendly reassurances or pat on the shoulder. Just stoicism. Maybe that was a little comforting in itself.

As Bodhi let himself calm down in the presence of an ally, he finally allowed himself to look around the rest of the cargo hold. Baze and Chirrut were just coming aboard, missing all the excitement of the last moment. Jyn was sitting silently, rain-drenched and staring at the floor, possibly didn't even flinch at the blaster shot. The droid had two smoking holes in its chest from blaster burns. They were a rough looking crew-..

"Where's Galen?" Bodhi asked, looking from Jyn to Cassian.

It finally got her attention though and she just looked up at him. "He's not coming," she said, her voice thick. Jyn didn't shed another tear though and it wasn't even clear if she had from the rain. "Get us out of here, Bodhi."

Bodhi swallowed, looking across all of their faces. They were one less. The one who had brought them all together. The kyber crystal warmed against Bodhi's heart.

Cassian turned away, securing his weapon with a sharp, metallic thunk in the silence of the ship's cargo hold. Baze placed his hand on Chirrut's shoulder, nodding slowly to the pilot. "Go, Bodhi. Take off, now. There's nothing more we can do."

\--

_It had taken a front line posting that cut his unit's numbers in half and a grueling posting on a putrid swamp world to be granted a rest with an assignment to the Scarif garrison.  7221 had decided long ago that in order to survive in his circumstances, he had to strive for the best.  He couldn't spend his time dumping swamp water out of his boots at the end of the day and applying bacta patches to keep out infection._

_Careers as stormtroopers weren't anything like officers though.  An officer had a face and a personality and some degree of control over their lives.  Stormtroopers were told where to go.  As such, the formation of elite troops still caused a stir in their ranks.  More opportunity away from the foot-pounding duty of infantry or boredom of guard duty; potentially more danger or more protection, depending on a soldier's skills._

_Plenty of elite units wore armor other than the standard white.  Shock troopers, jump troops, the secretive Inferno Squad... but the stark black of the Death Troopers stood out to 7221 immediately.  They were privileged and deadly.  Outfitted to not only cause the most amount of damage in their field of battle, but to cause the most amount of fear while doing it.  Past that, very little was known about them as they only existed under Grand Moff Tarkin's special projects unit._

_Scariff was a hub of activity for that unit given that it contained so much data in the storage tower where regular troopers were definitely not allowed.  It wasn't imperative for them to know exactly what they were guarding, but he could see how much activity went in and out of the tower.  That included the officer in the stark white uniform with an intimidating but impractical cape trailing behind him.  His rank insignia read as Director, but there was no military rank for "Director".  Instead, he was treated as an Admiral and, additionally, flanked by at least two Death Troopers._

_His image cut through any crowd of bland troopers and officers stationed in the Citadel Tower.  7221 had seen him pass to and from offices, research and records rooms many times since he had arrived.  No one dared to get in his way and he had heard the Director snap at some soldier for some offense further down the hallway.  It was none of his concern but he made a mental note to stay out of the Director's way._

_However, it was truly the Death Troopers who caught his attention.  Marching around to guard a cranky officer didn't sound very exciting but the rumors of what the Death Troopers actually did was enough to catch his interest.  7221 was dedicated to the service of the Empire.  He could wear the black armor and perform the surgical, precision combat strikes that were required rather than blinding beating against an enemy as a standard ground trooper.  That would be a great honor to the Empire._

_The Director paused in front of the guard station, facing down 7221 and 7109, lingering for several moments longer as he exited one of the lifts to the upper restricted levels.  7221 straightened some under the scrutiny.  What had they done to gain this attention from the Director?_

_Specifically, the Director was sizing up 7109.  7221 was short for a stormtrooper, and he was lean under his armor, but he had proven himself strong and capable, enduring even when some of the bigger troopers couldn't.  It didn't make him much to look at.  7109 by comparison looked more impressive._

_"What is your designation?" the Director asked, narrowing his eyes in concentration, or in anger.  "Unit, and commander."_

_7109 answered without hesitation.  "TK-7109, sir.  Unit 7C under Commander Belik.  501st, sir."_

_"501st?"  The Director tilted his head to the side.  No, it wasn't anger, it was curiosity.  He was trying to figure them out.  "I wasn't aware there were any 501st troopers on this base.  What did you two do to earn yourselves here?"_

_"Unit 7C was in the Minar campaign, sir," 7109 reported._

_The realization crossed the Director's face.  Ah.  The Minar complex was an asteroid belt with dwarf planets, many of them containing hidden bases.  A strike force had been sent under a young and ambitious officer--they took heavy losses.  The officer was no longer with them for wasting the resources._

_"Survivors, then," the Director replied._

_“Yes sir,” 7109 agreed._

_“Reassigned from the Bquan outpost,” 7221 said. It was a risk; he hadn’t been asked for that information and the Director had clearly been talking to 7109, but if the officer knew Bquan for what it was—disease-infested swamp land—then that would only add to their image. They had both earned their place. However, it could also appear to be bragging and while that kind of behavior seemed to be encouraged in the Empire, it was only promoted by officers. Not by standard troopers. They weren’t supposed to have personalities._

_Instead, the Director folded his arms, regarding both of them in thought. The Death Troopers behind him were nothing but stoic, standing straight and never wavering. 7221 and 7109 didn’t waver either._

_“You two seem to meet the qualifications,” he said casually. “I’m looking to add to my Death Troopers. The two of you could be candidates.” He pointed at 7221 directly. “You especially. Your designation?"_

_“TK-7221, sir.”_

_The Director seemed to mull it over, the way that someone might turn something over in their hands to examine it, only he did so in his mind. “I’ll speak with your commander.”_

_That was the end of it. As quickly as he had stopped to question them, the Director signaled to his troopers and he turned on his heel to leave. The hallway grew quiet and it was just the two garrison guards again. But_ 7221 especially _. 7221 could have sworn that the Director was far more interested in 7109. If they both went, that would be entirely acceptable. He had served with 7109 for both assignments and they knew each other well._

_So well that once they were truly alone, they both turned their heads to look at each other and 7221 swore that he could tell without seeing it at all that 7109 was smiling underneath his helmet._

\--

As the fighting wound down in the square, Krennic oversaw the last of the rebel insurgents rounded up and he even personally shot a rebel deserter trying to escape.  They would take prisoners, in fact he was hoping for them because he hoped to see familiar faces among them somewhere, though they would regret being caught in the end.  However, cleaning up a battle was a messy process.  Typically Krennic didn't stick around for it, leaving it for the ground troopers.  This time, he just happened to have a vested interest.

The rain was lightening up but it was making it difficult to see the results with the standing water and the fires that had cropped up in the wreckage.  Krennic looked over the bodies, pushing one over to see the face of a young woman with dark hair.  It wasn't Jyn.  He breathed out slowly.  They hadn't be reported as captured--either they were among the dead or they had gotten away.  Krennic wasn't happy with either option but if they were alive, he could still pursue them and bring them home.  Jyn should know that running away would only make it worse.

One of the officers flagged him down.  "Director!  There's something you need to see."

This would be it.  The rain did little to cool the heat in his cheeks as he splashed through a few puddles after the younger officer, and his heart pounded along with his feet in anticipation.  They knew they couldn't win, why hadn't they just surrendered?  Instead the entire city rose up, which was of little consequence--the Empire plowed through the Seplora rebellion without so much as a bruise.

Two Death Troopers were waiting, one of them crouched next to a body in the rain.  Krennic slowed as he approached.  He knew without looking.  He didn't even want to see it or kneel down to admit the loss but his knees hit the ground without his knowledge, splashing water through his already soaked uniform.  All he had to do was reach out and pull Galen into his arms.

Firing was still burning nearby, adding to the heat on Krennic's face and lighting up Galen's features.  He looked to be at peace, but that was little comfort because the fire only feeded his fury.

"They were supposed to be taken alive!" he screamed into the rain. 

The Death Troopers didn't flinch, but one of the white stormtroopers shifted at the outburst and the Director drew his pistol wildly and shot the trooper in the chest before aiming it more decidedly at the closer of the two Death Troopers.  "/You/ did this!  They were supposed to be alive; he was supposed to live!"

"Oh Galen.."  Krennic's arm sagged and he didn't shoot either of his two other troopers.  If they felt some relief from it, they didn't make it obvious, though one of them edged closer.  Krennic decidedly ignored them, dropping his arm down to his side completely and looking down at Galen's face.

Galen had always been his weakness but Krennic was far too late in realizing.  Now all of his chances were gone.  He knew that he shouldn't allow the soldiers to see him like this, down on his knees, holding his most valued scientist dead in his arms.  His most valued anything.  It was too hard to give Galen up though as the reality sunk in that he would be leaving the man he loved there on Seplora.

"It didn't have to go like this, Galen," he said, surprising himself with how calm he sounded.  Regret was quickly bubbling to the surface though and images of how live could have been with Galen by his side and Jyn charging forward into the future.  The numb feeling of the rain wasn't going to last. 

"If you had just listened--we could have done this together!  We held all of the power!" 

Krennic would have protected him; he did protect him through the years, both him and Jyn.

Jyn though; he couldn't blame her, as much as he wanted.  She had been misguided, that had to be it.  For so long, Jyn had listened to him and held him in such high regard, now suddenly all of that changed-.. It had to be the stormtrooper.  TX-7221.  There was no other inconsistency in her life that could have had the authority to do that where Krennic wouldn't have seen.

His grief hardened into rage and further into resolve, but he still outwardly choked on a sob because Galen was no longer there.  "I'm sorry," he said, at last.  "Truly, Galen, I'm sorry.  I won't lose her though.  I promise."  He started to grit his teeth and take handfuls of Galen's soaked clothing from where he held him.  "I'll bring her home and I swear that traitor is going to regret everything he's ever done by taking her away from me!"

\--

_While Death Trooper training had been some of the worst that 7221 had experienced while serving the Empire, once assigned to Director Krennic, he found that he saw more unnecessary combat than anywhere else.  Krennic had a compliment of Death Troopers for his protection and involvement in the Tarkin Initiative, but he saw it as a sign that he should wage his own battles and create his own front lines rather than leaving the fighting to the actual generals._

_It wasn't always bad; when Krennic was satisfied, the troops benefited.  There was glory in battle and if Director Krennic was the embodiment of anything, it was the spirit of a glorious leader in his white cape and uniform, leading his troops in victory.  But the Empire was built on strict discipline and the threat of what would happen if that broke down, so while Krennic might view himself as the white savior, his troops also won the day more often because failure was unacceptable._

_They arrived ahead of the main force, with Krennic demands in their ears, pushing the conflict through the stronghold of the village.  He wanted the resources unharmed, so the precise strike-force was necessary rather than bombarding all of it from orbit and wiping out the village or flattening it with ground troopers and tanks.  It gave the Death Troopers that much more skill and experience--with every battle won, they gained the strength and spirit to win two more.  Any time they were pushed back, they hit even harder and busted through._

_Krennic called for all insurgents to be wiped out.  No quarter; no surrender.  They needed access to the resources unhindered.  It wasn't that they were fighting against large numbers but rather a local group of rebels who knew the terrain and could use it to their advantage.  The village had plenty of cover, places to hide and strike repeatedly, and areas to bottleneck unsuspecting forces.  There wasn't enough time for the Death Troopers to learn the layout, instead they just had to rely on their training and each other to get through._

_It pushed them to their limits and even Death Troopers were not indestructible.  They lost two to a grenade, which made TX-7221 and TX-7109 hunted down the offender and made quick work of her--a woman with too much grey in her hair and too much fight in her eyes.  Another trooper was wounded and screamed through his helmet before falling silent.  The enemy was never supposed to hear them in pain._

_7221 was making a final pass through the village as Krennic's shuttle set down at the edge.  There were too many places to hide still and they had to make certain--any rebel would see an officer in white as an impressive target, and Krennic was vulnerable with his desire to lead from the front.  He checked two other buildings, half listening to the comm chatter of the other troopers as Krennic prepared to inspect the village and his desired resources.  Honestly, 7221 didn't know what they were acquiring and it didn't matter to him, just as it didn't matter what he was guarding on Scarif, only that he was told to do it._

_One last building, kicking over a cot in the corner and looking behind a curtain before he exited onto the street.  Across the way, 7109, nodded his helmet to him, motioning toward the Director's shuttle.  They were done here._

_He saw the glint of the sun off of the blaster metal too late to even finishing yelling to his squadmate before the last hidden villager fired into the street, striking 7109 several times.  7221 barely registered the other trooper collapsing onto the ground with his focus on the rebel, charging in at him and firing into the shadowed alley.  He hit the target several times, making up for the several blaster bolts that took down 7109, but as the body of the villager tumbled out into view, his finger stilled on the trigger and suddenly 7221 felt as though his helmet was sweltering with heat and his heart pounding.  The boy couldn't have been old enough to be considered an adult in most systems.  He was old enough to fight though.  Still, in spite of all of the Empire's conditioning, something told him that it was wrong.  Maybe it was the sliver of memory of other children throwing rocks at Republic tanks._

_He lowered his weapon and crouched next to 7109, miraculously still breathing.  The black armor was convenient in that it was lighter weight than normal white armor but just as hard, if not harder, however it also made it harder to detect blood on a fallen trooper.  7221 could find the smoking wounds but he couldn't see how bad they were--7109's hands were shaking though and that told him enough.  It wasn't going to be worth trying to carry him back to the shuttle.  Instead he held onto his wrist until 7109 let go and his helmet laid back against the dirt._

_With the pounding in his helmet and the silence after a battle, 7221 didn't hear the crunch of footsteps on the dirt coming up behind him until he caught sight of the director's boots out of the corner of his helmet's HUD.  Kriff.  They were soldiers; they weren't supposed to be caught leaning over a fallen comrade, they were just supposed to keep going and leave the dead behind, even if the dead--even if 7109--had stood next to him for dozens of assignments._

_"If I had been a rebel, trooper, you'd be dead," Krennic said in an even tone.  "On your feet."_

_He didn't move until he was told, standing up and facing the Director, squaring his shoulders and becoming the soldier again.  He wasn't asked for his opinion or any feedback; he said nothing.  In fact, he expected Krennic to reprimand him for his sloppiness._

_Instead, the man regarded him, tilting his head to the side some as if he was trying to see inside of his helmet.  "This is the third one we've lost today, isn't it?" he asked.  "That's a high price for this piece of chit village."_

_Officers rarely spoke to troops except to issue orders.  Conversation, or anything like it, was entirely unexpected.  7221 didn't know how to react, other than to stand at attention.  He didn't dare to respond._

_Krennic clasped his hands behind him, gathering his cape at his sides.  "That boy over there--was he the one?"_

_7221 didn't look at the body.  He didn't need to see it again.  "Yes, sir."_

_"That rebel killed one of us," Krennic stated.  "You avenged that soldier, trooper.  It doesn't matter what they are, if they can carry a weapon against us, they're the enemy and you protected the Empire by doing your duty."_

_Why was Krennic even bothering to justify it to him?  The Director hadn't pulled the trigger, he couldn't possibly feel any guilt about it.  7221 told himself he didn't feel guilty; the rebels brought it on themselves, and his orders were for the benefit of the Empire._

_"Yes sir," 7221 said, sounding hollow in the voice modifier of his helmet._

_Krennic nodded, approval that he understood, and then he did something else unexpected.  "You did well, TX-7221.  You served the Empire today.  The resources here, these crystal mines, are going to give us enough power to do very great things.  The Emperor takes care of his subjects and we're ensuring that these rebels are not preventing our people from food, power and life.  TX-7109 gave his life for that future."_

_It felt warm to be acknowledged, and it certainly wasn't that officers hadn't given them praise before but something about how Krennic did it made it different; maybe the words he used or that he acknowledged that as much as stormtroopers were trained--conditioned--to cast their emotions aside, war was horrible for everyone who came in contact with it._

_He didn't move his head but he let his eyes drift over Krennic's shoulder at several other troopers gathered a distance behind him where they likely couldn't hear what was being said.  Still, he wondered if they had been told this too--did Krennic give these affirmations to all of his soldiers; had they all been through this._

_Turning to the side, Krennic made sure that he could see 7221 but also the rest of the gathered troopers waiting for orders.  "What all of you have done here, the Empire recognizes it," he said, raising his voice to be heard by all of them.  The voice of a commander.  "And_ I _am proud of you."_

_\--_

"We got out, we survived.  That's important.  The Rebellion is going to recognize us for that," Bodhi said, hunched slightly in a fold-down jump chair in the cargo area.  "We don't have any time though; I've put in coordinates to the base.  We'll go straight there."  As he spoke, he sat up more, as if it was an act of rebellion in itself.  The Alliance wanted to keep them at an arms' distance and Bodhi had had enough.  They all had.  It had cost them Galen Erso's life.

Jyn was quiet, but holding herself together as least as far as others could see.  Cassian felt that he knew better.  He'd seen Jyn through far more situations but she had lost her father.  Officer or not, he knew how close they were, he could see the family bond.  The Empire told them to mourn later, in private after the job was finished, and so she shoved it behind her for now.

"We need to get a new ship.  This one, it must have been how they tracked us.  There's no other explanation; no one on that planet could possibly have known who we were," she said, daring to look up at all of them. 

"No, not with the way they fought with us," Chirrut agreed.

Leaning against the ship’s hull, Baze held his arms across his chest, tapping one finger against his elbow.  It was a troubled look though with his brow knit.  “You are both correct,” he said, though with some difficulty.  “We cannot know that all of the city stood against the Empire.” 

“You sound like you know something we don’t,” Bodhi said.

He dropped his chin toward his chest and the troubled look didn’t disappear, if anything it deepened.  The Guardian claimed to know the Force, which Cassian paid little attention, but it seemed much more like a sense was emerging and Baze didn’t want to say it, but knew he must.  They couldn’t hold back secrets.

“The Force has been darkening around us since we arrived on the planet,” he said at last.  “I believe there is a traitor in a place we do not expect.”

Cassian closed his eyes.  Kriff the Force and the Guardians.  Baze couldn’t possibly have felt that, but he didn’t have time to question the intuition of the monk because there would be no hiding.  He felt heat rising to his face and his chest like there was a hole in it, and the sensation that the whole floor was falling away.  Now he didn't have a choice.  “It was me,” he said.  “I sent the message.”

He expected Jyn to spring at him, or maybe for one of them to even pull a blaster since Cassian had only been a traitor to the Empire and now he was a traitor to them as well.  However, the words stunned them all into silence and the pause that fell over them was so heavy that Cassian didn’t think he could breathe.

Finally.  “You did _what_?”  Jyn was on her feet in a second, as soon as the words came out of her mouth, but she didn't move toward him, not yet, but the heat of her eyes was almost enough to push him into the corner without her hands doing it for her. 

Out of the corner of his vision, Cassian was aware of the way that Chirrut’s body tried to jump out of his seat too but instead Baze placed a hand on his shoulder, holding him back.  Bodhi’s hand was on the blaster now resting on his lap.

Three times he had encountered Bodhi and been at the receiving end of his blaster; once as enemies, twice as allies.  Bodhi was questioning whether or not he should have pulled the trigger one of those times, Cassian could see it on his face.  Maybe fate, maybe the Force had thrown them together repeatedly as a message to the man who also wore a kyber crystal, and if the Guardians were any kind of right about it, who must hold some connection to the Force because of it.

He hated the Force.  Hated it for not stepping in when he made bad decisions, for not saving Galen as the Force was supposed to be about life.  Hated it for causing this, for killing those people on Jedha, for Jyn's rage and hatred now directed at him.  This all powerful Force; what was its power if this _still_ happened?

Why had the Force allowed the Empire to exist if it was truly that evil.

"I sent it," Cassian repeated, as if they hadn't heard him the first time.  "It was for us to go back home."

Jyn closed her hands into fists at her sides as there seemed to be no words to contain her fury.  "You brought them do us, you-.. My _Father_!"

"It was to protect you!" Cassian snapped back.

She stepped forward, invading his space, expecting him to step back but he stood fast and their two wills were pushed up against each other and battling for ground.  "Protect me from _what_ , Cassian!" she demanded.  "We left the Empire to get away from them and _you_ called them back here!"

"It was to protect you from yourself!"

Jyn opened her mouth and took a step back as if he had actually slapped her.  It felt to him as though he had too.  Cassian was still defending a decision he didn't believe in anymore because he knew he was wrong the minute it didn't go as planned.

"Protect me from myself," she echoed in astonishment.  "We were fighting this together, Cassian.  You were fighting for me!"  They had been over this argument again and again where she tried to convince him that it was for the greater good; in the hallway before escaping the Empire, on Seplora and when she beat her hands against his chest on the shuttle taking off from Jedha.  She had wanted to rail against the Empire, but as it happened, the Empire stood in front of her on that shuttle, unflinching and without defenses, only facing her with love and devotion.

He still faced her with the same, but his intentions to save her had been so narrowed by the only thing he knew that now he was going to lose her all the same. 

"You said it, you said those words!" she continued.  "And then you betrayed us; me.  We were never going back, you knew that.  Did you make a deal, is that it?  When did you sell us out?"

"Before we left," he said.  He didn't get upset, he just stood his ground because that was how they had trained him.  An officer berates a trooper and they take it because that is their duty, to be obedient and follow orders. 

Jyn scoffed.  He was certain that it was the calm waiting before the next wave of attack.  No one else dared to move, not even K-2 who watched with a decidedly blank expression, even for a droid.  "Fight me," she said.

He blinked at her--what?  "Fight-.. no.  No, ma'am."

She pushed him hard enough that he took a step back, then she pushed him again, harder, with her fists, trying to back him up against the wall.  "Fight me, Cassian!  Act--do something!  Take back all of those kriffing lies you told me!"

As she hit him again, someone finally did move but it wasn't K-2 as Cassian expected, and instead it was Baze, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her back so that her feet lifted up off of the ground with the effort.  Cassian worked his jaw, all but shaking with effort to maintain a control he didn't know why he had anymore.  He wasn't a stormtrooper anymore, they weren't in the Empire and they never would be again.

It wasn't worth the effort to fight against Baze though and Jyn sagged in his arms until he let go, but her anger remained and it might never go away.  "That's what I thought. Is that what happened, Krennic told you to protect me so that's what you're doing?  You are nothing but a stormtrooper, 7221.  Only following _orders_ ," she said with a sneer.

He broke loose, at long last.  "This was to protect you from this fantasy that the Rebellion would _ever_ listen to us!" Cassian snapped.  "They won't believe us.  Even if they do, there's no way that they can go up against the Death Star, even with Galen's trap.  They can't infiltrate Scariff; not with a thousand men and ships!  You know it!"

"I thought wrong.  I thought he would take you back and you would be safe and I was _wrong_."  Cassian paused to breathe and his heart hammered again, but this time for his own anger rather than fear of being discovered.  “We were just supposed to go home. It was too late-..”

“The Empire was never our home,” Jyn said, lifting her chin up.

Cassian pressed his lips together in determination. “It was for you. For us. All our lives, it was home.”

“No.” Jyn stepped forward again. “You didn’t think, Cassian. You didn’t think this through and you acted blindly. You didn’t think what they would do! You didn’t think-..”

“Yes I did! I knew the risks,” he said, his tone turning harder at her. She had started this, she should know what effect it had. “I made a decision. That’s what you always wanted; that’s what you kept pushing me to do!” He licked his lips, hoping that somewhere she would hear what he was trying to say to her but he didn’t think any words, actions or regret would make up for it. “I was wrong, Jyn. I made a wrong choice.”

She breathed out, seeming calmer, but he knew that couldn’t possibly be the end of it. He would have to atone in more ways than that. “Yes you did,” she said. “Homes change, Cassian.” Then she turned away, motioning at Bodhi. “Put him in binders.”

Even if the betrayal had shocked them all, no one had dared to intervene besides Baze and as Bodhi was dragged back into it, he didn’t seem to have had the time to process it either as he still looked stunned, even if he did get to his feet. “Jyn, we-..” he started to protest.

Jyn immediately cut him off with a sharp gaze. “Do it,” she ordered.

Homes may change, soldiers may defect, but there was still the Imperial officer that Cassian knew. She didn’t look at anyone, sinking down in a jump chair and fuming with the emotions that she tried to suppress. He’d done that. He had failed his mission at long last and not in any way he thought possible.

As Bodhi stood awkwardly in front of him with a pair of binders, Cassian didn’t make any move to resist. The pilot chewed on his lower lip as he clipped Cassian’s wrists into the metal cuffs and then flicked his eyes up at his face. “I’m sorry,” he said.

Cassian shook his head, looking down at his hands and squeezing them into fists. “No you’re not.”

\--

_Being summoned by the Director alone was not commonplace, though with all of his training, TX-7221 did not fidget or appear nervous in the least even if he was dreading what he was going to find when the office doors slid open.  He couldn't think of anything that he did in recent memory that could have upset Krennic; in fact 7221 had needed very few corrective actions from his superiors.  He wanted to be a good soldier and the Empire gave him the opportunity to do so._

_Krennic made him wait a good long few minutes of wondering what he had done before his aid, a young lieutenant in a crisp uniform, stood at the doors to let him in.  7221 did not waste the Director's time by hesitating, walking in until he was allowed inside the inner office and the lieutenant stepped outside, closing the door behind him.  Then they were alone._

_7221 had never been summoned alone to Krennic's office, only with additional troopers or an officer.  Typically if Krennic needed something, he came to them instead.  His office was sacred territory not for the likes of uniformed troopers because their workld was entirely separate.  It made his palms sweat inside his gloves to consider the unusualness of the situation and the way that Krennic did not let him know what it was about.  Possibly just to make him squirm._

_Instead, the Director looked relaxed sitting at his desk and tapping a forefinger against his lips pressed together in consideration.  "TX-7221.  I have a delicate assignment for you," he said at last, getting straight to the point.  7221 was grateful._

_7221 clasped his hands behind his back.  "Yes sir," he replied._

_That said, Krennic folded his hands, steepling his fingers, as he leaned forward.  7221 felt under close scrutiny.  However, the Director looked relaxed, even casual in his own territory, and 7221 had already experienced that he was an unusual commanding officer at times._

_"I'm assigning you to Lieutenant Erso," he said.  "You'll be accompanying her on a new series of missions."_

_A babysitting assignment--they were notoriously difficult.  It was impossible to be in the Advanced Weapons division and not know who Erso was, especially since she was Krennic's favorite niece.  They weren't really related, however, but they would be if the Director had anything to say about it with the attention he paid to her father._

_While she had command and field skills, she was young and eager to prove herself, and that meant that she would be a difficult watch.  7221 did not offer commentary.  He didn't need to voice anything about babysitting the Director's favorite at this time.  Ultimately, it wasn't whether or not he liked the assignment, it was about how well he would perform it._

_“Lieutenant Erso is a specialist. I understand that you are too,” Krennic said._

_Him and the rest of the squad. He shifted on his feet, betraying individual thoughts rather than standing rigid at attention.  "Yes, sir."_

_If Krennic noticed, he didn’t mention it, but with the way that he was considering 7221, he also knew that the assignment he was issuing to him was not an easy one nor should it be taken lightly. Perhaps some apprehension, whether if it was directed toward Erso or the Director and his approval, was warranted._

_Krennic continued.  "She is your priority, do I make myself clear?  Is this something you can accomplish, 7221?"_

_7221 didn’t answer right away. He creased his brow under his helmet, worrying his thumb against the side of his hand behind his back. Then he took the risk and answered. “Sir.”_

_Krennic canted his head to the side, curious and not shutting him down from speaking yet. After all, he was right, it wasn’t a typical assignment. “Speak, trooper.”_

_“Why me?”_

_It was a legitimate question and for so personal an assignment, one that Krennic didn’t look surprised to hear. In fact, he leaned back in his chair, settling in as if he was going to speak comfortably about a topic in which he was an expert. Clearly he had given the matter a lot of thought._

_“What do you know of Lieutenant Erso, 7221?” he asked plainly._

_7221 didn’t hesitate in his answer. “She is a capable officer and soldier.” He had seen Jyn Erso train many times, and he’d seen her issue orders. She had all of the makings of a good Imperial officer as far as he could tell, especially, as he imagined, growing up alongside the cape of Director Krennic._

_Krennic smiled slightly in a fond manner, nodding his head in agreement. “That she is. She is also headstrong and prone to getting herself in trouble. Let’s not deny what I’m assigning you to do, trooper. She will not be easy.”_

_The thought had never crossed his mind that it would be easy. Krennic wouldn’t have been going through such an effort if it was._

_“You haven’t been here as long as some of my men, 7221, but you’ve been here long enough. I tell you to do it, and you do,” Krennic explained. “You follow orders, and you get objectives done. That is the kind of structure that Erso needs.”_

_He stood up, walking around his desk and coming face to face with the Death Trooper, lifting his chin to look back at him. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed the dedication you have to the Empire, trooper. You are the only one I trust to do this.”_

_An honor, then, but a heavy one, with a large price if he was to fail. 7221 would not fail. He would not let Krennic down, nor Erso, nor the Empire. He straightened his shoulders ever so slightly and stood up a hair taller. “Yes, sir,” he said much more decisively._

_Krennic smiled again in approval. “Good. Then listen. This is your assignment: Her safety is your primary concern. You are not to let anything happen to her. Do not let her out of your sight. You will bring her back no matter the cost.” He pointed a finger at 7221 in emphasis. “I trust you to do this. Don’t fail me.”_

_With a wash of emotions in the back of his mind, 7221 replied. “Never, sir.”_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The Rebellion was not what she expected.  Saw Gerrera's partisans had been in a state of disorganized organization, operating more like animals going after a scrap pile and climbing over each other to get ahead.  Effective but primative, and prone to heavy losses but the partisans never seemed to care how many of themselves they killed as long as they inflicted heavy losses on the other side as well. 

With the Alliance being more of a thorn in the Empire's side, she didn't expect to see them be so organized.  They actually looked like a real military organization as she stepped out of the shuttle in the hanger of the pyramid temple on some humid and suffocatingly green moon called Yavin 4.  There were fights, shuttles, transports, all kinds of ships on deck both in and out of the hanger--guards, traffic control, pilots, engineers and mechanics.  Many of them noticed the newcomers; some were obvious about it but others less so.

Jyn found herself taking stock of all of it, counting the fighters and bombers, watching the pilots and guards to see how they moved.  This could be valuable intel to the Emp-...

The thought had come so easily to her that she had to pause in the hanger for a step, nearly making Bodhi crash into her.  He caught her by her elbows instead, narrowly missing the collision, and even though she tensed at the sudden contact, he laughed nervously, letting go of her and holding his hands up.  Her kyber crystal briefly felt warm from the close contact--always a reminder of her connection to Bodhi.

"Sorry," he said.  Instead of rambling some more nervous apologies, Bodhi looked at her curiously, his brow knit together, and she felt as though they had known each other for a long time.  Perhaps that was what surviving total destruction had done to them.  He touched her arm again.  "Are you okay?"

"Fine."  She shook her head, shedding all of the old feelings and protocols of an Imperial officer off of her shoulders.  "I'm fine."

Bodhi bit his lip--maybe he wasn't, but he appeared far less nervous than before; maybe that had something to do with being on his home territory.  Jyn imagined that she would be far more confident standing on Imperial ground too.  Her training made her seem just as confident and proud standing here in enemy territory, but she wasn't when she truly thought about it.  She should stop thinking of them of 'enemy' but she was surrounded by so many strangers without her most steady allies beside her.  Ally; one in particular.

The droid stopped just in the field of her vision, turning its head to the side to watch.  Jyn didn't want to look but as K-2 did, she couldn't help glancing enough to see the image of Cassian being led away from the shuttle by several armed Alliance guards with his hands still bound in front of him.  That was a mistake.  He could probably still overpower them in an empty hallway and get away. 

Everything on his face told her that he was resigned to his fate though.  That hurt the most. 

As she turned back, Bodhi was watching too for much longer than she had.  Jyn had seen the two of them interact--it had actually given her hope that Cassian was getting along with one of their new friends, except instead he blew all of it up in their faces.  She was walking into a new home without him when he had been her biggest reason for leaving in the first place.

"Is he going to be okay?" Bodhi asked.

She pressed her lips together decidedly.  This was not the time nor the place to have this discussion in the middle of a Rebellion hanger when she didn't know how she even felt about him yet.  What ever she decided, she _hated_ seeing him under armed guard as a prisoner.

"He's not our concern right now," she said neutrally.  As she pressed forward, Bodhi followed closely, trying to catch her eye again.

"He's one of us," the pilot said.  "He's been with us since the beginning!"

Jyn did not want to have this discussion and Bodhi hadn't known her long enough to know her warning signs when to stop.  He was too determined and hopeful for his own good.  Too much of a rebel.  "And he _chose_ not to be anymore.  I don't want to talk about this," she snapped.

Bodhi wasn't done pushing as he trotted right up beside her instead.  That was Cassian's place.  "We're all on second chances here.  All of us--you, me, even K-2..."  As soon as he started talking, she shot him such a heated look, that he stopped mid-sentence. 

K-2.  That made Jyn pause as she looked back at the oddly quiet and lumbering droid that had also seen its creator led away as a prisoner.  That could be a problem. 

When she stopped, so did the other two, but as she focused on K-2, the droid stared back blankly until it tilted its head to the side.  "Now what is _that_ look for?"

"You and I need to have a talk before we go any further, K-2, and it's not going to be right here," Jyn stated.

\--

Eadu had been bombed.  One last strike effort by the Rebels in the system that had actually done some significant damage.  The official reports started that it was blind luck that the facility was even discovered hidden in the rain drenched mountains, and it so happened that the Director had pulled most of the protective force along with several others to the attack on Seplora.

Surprisingly, Krennic was not named in the report to take the blame for the failure, but anyone close enough to the situation knew how to read his name all of it.  Word had even reached Lord Vader by the time that Krennic got to his refuge on Mustafar.  What should have been an appeal to the Emperor's right hand, reassurance that Krennic still had the situation under control and that the traitors had been dealt with, turned into a sinking situation of dread and fear as Vader was impatient with Krennic's misadventures and ultimately issued a terse warning that the Director needed to act like the officer that he was and get his own affairs in order. 

Triumph and glory was becoming further and further out of reach as he felt as if the floor was melting underneath him.  He had gone to see Lord Vader for justification that he, Krennic, was right and that _he_ would be the one getting credit from the Emperor, not a grand moff hellbent on making his life miserable.  Krennic had already overcome enough challenges including the security breaches and Galen Erso's misguided betrayal. 

Instead, all of it was proof of his ineptitude.  Krennic had allowed that to happen under his watch was all that the rest of the Empire saw and without the supportive platform of Galen, he had nothing to stand on to hold him up.  While he had come to Mustafar with the same fire that burned the planet running through his blood on the heels of the conflict on Seplora, he was more than grateful to leave the wretched place. 

Even in the climate controlled interior of his shuttle, Krennic was still sweating.  His heart was still thumping hard against his chest.  He still felt the phantom pressure around his throat that had nearly overcome him in the audience chamber with both excitement and terror.  Adrenaline.  It was just the adrenaline, nothing more.

One of the Death Troopers glanced at him as they flew away from the planet and entered lightspeed.  None of them saw what transpired with Lord Vader--fortunately--but he wondered how much they could see on his face.  Or if they were just awaiting orders. 

Even looking at them, he couldn't help but be reminded of TX-7221 though.  It forced him to replay the most recent events in his head for the hundredth time.  The leak from Galen's outfit, Jedha, Jyn's anger, then betrayal, then Seplora.  Then Eadu.  All of them betrayed him.  Oh, Galen, how could you..

"Change of plans," Krennic announced, forcing his voice all the way to the cockpit.  "Take me to Scarif.  _Immediately_."

Galen worked on everything, he touched _everything_ , and Krennic had trusted him.  He wanted so much for Galen to be innocent, but until he saw it with his own eyes, he would have the suspicion.  His skin felt too tight; his heart hammered faster.  He was going to rip every inch of those plans apart until he found something. 

\--

"He is my programmer.  What do you expect me to say, Jyn Erso?"

With Jyn's nerves already taken a beating in the past several hours since they had been woken up so suddenly in Seplora, the droid was expectedly infuriating as usual.  Just infuriating a lot faster.  She breathed out--the droid wasn't frustrated with her because droids didn't get frustrated and anything she felt against it was just making it worse.  She had to calm down.

"I asked you a simple question, metal-head," she said, more slowly this time.  "You didn't give me a simple answer."  So much for calming down. 

"Please tell me what you expect of me," K-2 replied.

It always looked down at her expectantly, which also drove her crazy.  She knew that it could come to its own conclusions.  It did often.  That was the point of the artificial intelligence.

"Look, we don't have a lot of time before this council happens.  I need to know where you stand.  With me or with Cassian."

K-2S0 made a point of looking down at its feet.  Then it looked at Jyn.  "I am standing across from you."

"Oh for kriff's sake!" 

She turned around in a circle, nearly throwing up her hands or reaching out to push the droid violently, though she knew with how sturdy K-2 that it would hurt her a lot more.  Instead, she looked down the hallway at Bodhi acting as their lookout.  The Alliance council was supposed to be forming soon to hear their information, and their proposal.  Jyn wasn't so sure about that part either and unless she was certain about it and walked into that room with confidence, then they would fail.

"If you don't give me a straight answer, K, I will start pulling your wires out one by one."

The droid stared straight at her--at least with a person, she would be able to see the concentration of thought during the pause but the droid betrayed nothing even if its gears were grinding away to get her an answer.  "He is my programmer," K-2 said at last.  "I will protect him.  That does not mean that I agree with him or his actions."

Jyn felt as though some of the anger drained out of her, at least enough so she could try to understand what K-2 was saying.  She had wanted an individual answer, but hadn't fully expected individual thought.  "Okay," she started carefully.  "Really all I need to know is that you're on our side." 

"I am," K-2 said without hesitation.  "The Empire is evil and we're never going back.  That's what your side is, isn't it?" 

For a few seconds, when it first agreed with her, she actually felt hopeful, as if she had made the right choice and even the droid who she had had so much conflict with actually agreed with her.  It only took another few seconds for all of that to be gone, and she sighed.  At least she was certain that it really was K-2 speaking and it hadn't been reprogrammed or altered again.

She shook her head, trying to move past it quickly again.  "That's good enough, K-2..  Bodhi?"

He was heading toward her, hands at his sides.  They looked like quite a pair, or even trio with K-2.  An Imperial droid, a pilot in a filthy flight suit, and Jyn in now battleworn civilian clothes.  At least they were the truth.

"It's time," Bodhi said.  

\--

Their chance had always been slim but they had hope on their side.  That hope was Jyn Erso.  With all they had been through, Jyn still didn't give up in convincing them; however, they just couldn't be convinced.  In the end, Bodhi walked away from the briefing room where the council had been held, hands shoved in his pockets, moving with the rest of the murmurs and disbursement of individuals and spirit.

He would join up with Jyn soon enough but she would need some space.  Bodhi needed some space, maybe.  Galen Erso.  Jedha.  Seplora.  Cassian.  All of their casualties that had cost them to get this far and they still didn't make it to Scarif.  The Alliance wouldn't back them and they were just a handful of people.

What could just a few do against the big Imperial war machine?

Bodhi stopped walking as he realized he had come to the detention complex of the temple.  It had been retrofitted, upgraded and heavily guarded deep within the depths of stone, far away from the voices of the command center.  The guards watched him uneasily.  Bodhi was just a nobody, just a pilot. 

But a pilot who had business there.  He pulled his hands from his pockets and stepped up to meet them.  "Uhm, here to see the prisoner."

The guard shifted on his feet, pinching the corners of his mouth.  "Which one?"

"Oh.  Uh, Cassian.  The stormtrooper who came in with Jyn Erso."

"No one is allowed in to see him; hasn't even been questioned yet," the guard reported. 

"Well I'm Bodhi Rook, I came in with him too, I'm-.. I'm the pilot.  You can ask General Draven if you want to know.  I'm the pilot," Bodhi explained earnestly.  "I don't want to question him, I just want to talk to him."  _He's--was maybe--my friend._

It to Bodhi if it was dropping Draven's name or his genuine concern that made the guard pause, but the other man didn't send him away just yet.  He even looked uncomfortable, like he might let Bodhi pass. 

"No one is supposed to see these prisoners without direct orders," the guard said in a reluctant tone.  "We really shouldn't let you in."

They would though.  Briefly, it occurred to him that maybe a few weeks ago, before he'd been sent on the dangerous mission to Jedha where his only training had been behind the controls of a starship and being from the moon itself, Bodhi never would have been able to talk his way past a reluctant guard.  He doubted he could handle someone more advanced, but he was becoming more like them.  More like Jyn, more like Cassian.  Some of it, in turn, was also desperation.  He needed to talk to Cassian.

"Please," he said.  "Just for a few minutes.  No one needs to know about this."

The guard sighed, nodding his head and letting him through.  His partner, a Quarren, looked at him with bored eyes but said nothing, just breathing out noisily.

Bodhi didn't waste any time, heading into the security wing.  He'd find Cassian--it couldn't be that hard; he didn't imagine the Rebellion had that many prisoners, not compared to the number of rebels that were likely in Imperial prisons. 

There were more rows of cells than he would have liked to see and Bodhi had to duck down another hallway when he heard boots coming toward him on the steels grates, avoiding another pair of guards making their rounds.  He might have gotten past the first set, but he might get kicked out before finding Cassian by another, stricter guard, though from what he heard of their conversation, they sounded bored.  Prison duty couldn't be that exciting.

A few prisoners whispered at him, trying to get his attention, but he ignored them.  He was there only for Cassian, not to listen for Imperial pleas for to be set loose.  Though, the further he went, the more he saw.  Could all of these truly be _Imperial_ prisoners and not held there for something else?  Maybe it wasn't as many as he really thought but the security wing had lots of hallways and a handful of cells per each row.  Without examining each one, he couldn't be certain that every one had a prisoner.

There was another guard down the next hall and Bodhi paused, but the man seemed occupied, yelling into a cell antagonizingly and when the prisoner started to react, the guard slammed his baton against the door.  This was where they left Cassian, among the prisoners.  This was how the Rebellion treated them and he tried to tell himself at least they were alive.

Bodhi took hold of his kyber crystal, wishing that it would bring him some luck, not that he thought he believed in that kind of thing, and turned another corner.  He was there, and they were alone, aside from the being in the cell across the hall who pressed up against the door when Bodhi got close enough.  Edging away, he stood in front of Cassian's door, wrapping his hands around the bars.  Ancient, but strong.  A prison was a prison; the same way that rebels would stand behind transparasteel on an Imperial base.

"Cassian," he whispered.  "Cassian, it's _me_."

"I know it's you, Bodhi, I can see you," Cassian replied neutrally.  He sat on his bunk and didn't come any closer, though with the shadows in the cell, Bodhi couldn't be sure that there wasn't a bruise on his cheekbone.  

The prison itself unsettled him.  They were supposed to be on the side of freedom against the Empire, on the side of the people.  All he saw were prisoners and his friend kept there because he made a bad choice and it was Galen who truly paid for it.  But Bodhi knew Galen.  Everything told him that Galen was willing to die for this cause and to see the Empire's greatest weapon destroyed and his daughter set free.  Bodhi wanted to speak, but he just looked down at his hands.  His feet may have brought him here where he would find Cassian, but his words had yet to catch up with him.

"They didn't believe you, did they?" Cassian asked at last.

He shook his head.  No, they hadn't.  "We couldn't talk them into it, going to Scarif."

"Maybe if Galen-.."

"No, I don't think so," Bodhi said.  "If they didn't believe us, I don't think they'd believe him.  We tried.  I think they've given up on hope at this point."

Cassian continued to watch him and Bodhi risked lifting his eyes too.  He didn't know what he had come here to even accomplish.  Cassian had just been a cog in the big Imperial war machine, just the way that Bodhi had been just a pilot for a much bigger organization that held more secrets than it was willing to admit.  They had that in common.

"I believe you," Cassian said.

Bodhi shook his head.  "But you were there, you heard what Galen said; we all believe it!"

Instead, Cassian held his hand up, signaling him to stop.  Bodhi took a deep breath.  "Not just the Death Star, or blowing it up.  I believe we can do it, that we can help."  He sat up, taking his elbows off of his knees, rising more into the soldier that he used to be not that long ago.  "That we have to do the right thing."

"We can't.  If we go, it's against the council and the Alliance," Bodhi said, creasing his brow.

Cassian stood up, walking closer.  It was a bruise, after all, and Bodhi didn't want to think about how he got it or what he did to get it.  He had been so submissive, walking with the guards without fight.  He didn't protest to the binders.  He just did what he was told, like a soldier, now he was telling Bodhi to go against the rules.

"I want to make this right, I want to fix everything that I kriffed up.  I couldn't make her understand on the ship--Jyn, she never would have believed me.  Just like your council.  We came this far; we survived Jedha and we owe this to Galen, to get to Scarif,"  Cassian reached through the bars, grasping Bodhi's wrist.  "You question them.  You're right to do that.  Don't let their orders stop you from doing the right thing before it's too late."

Bodhi stared him back in the face, watching his eyes.  Maybe he felt like he knew Cassian well enough to know when he was being genuine, but it felt like it, that it wasn't just a ploy to get him out of the cell so he could go on his way, or betray them again.  Bodhi had to make the right decision now.  He had to face Saw Gerrera's test, and he trusted the man in front of him.

"Let me go get K-2," Bodhi said.  "Stay here."

"Don't have a choice."  Cassian started to smile, just slightly, but it rekindled the hope that Bodhi had left. 

\--

_It wasn’t often that Jyn got to spend an entire day with her uncle.  Like her father, he was usually busy all day.  Even moreso than Galen, actually, with all of the responsibilities that he had as an officer.  Her father also had responsibilities too, she knew that, with his projects.  Uncle Orson was in charge of everything though and that meant that he was busy and people listened to him._

_Even as busy as he was, he tried to make time for her.  Jyn loved spending time with her father, but there was something to be said about her uncle too.  He was always happy to see her--he brought her presents, like the plastic stormtrooper she was carting around Coruscant with her now._

_"Oh, you're getting big to carry around anymore," Krennic protested playfully.  He still managed to hoist her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist and cling to his shoulders.  "I used to be able to hold you on one arm, you know.  When did you get so big?"_

_Jyn giggled, leaning her head on his shoulder.  "Daddy says because of all of the fresh food we get from the farms.  He likes the farms."_

_"Well he's a rubbish farmer, let me tell you that."  Krennic smiled still though, leaving his tone playful.  She didn't know the difference, or understand the reference.  "You get taller when you sleep too, you know that?  We can blame that bed of yours too."_

_"I want to grow up tall and strong," she said, lifting her head up._

_He pressed a kiss to her forehead as it was at just the right level.  "My dear, I don't think that will be an issue.  You're already strong--I can see it."_

_Galen was at a conference in the capital, sharing developments and information with other smart people.  At least that's what Uncle Orson told her.  It must have been important though to keep him there all day and Jyn couldn't go in.  Really though, she didn't want to--it sounded boring._

_Instead, Krennic actually volunteered to watch her.  With the aspect of spending a whole day with him being so rare, she didn't notice Galen's hesitation over her own excitement.  It would be fun; there was so much to do in the capital city.  Nothing could go wrong with Uncle Orson there._

_"I want to be strong, like you and Papa," she replied._

_They had gone to see a display of floating foranua fish, bouncing around in all different colors, appearing that they were made out of jelly with mushroom caps and wispy legs.  There was also a pod of large sargums that swam around slowly because of their enormous size, but then raced to the surface with a quick flip of their long, flat tails and blew water into the air from the breathing holes on their backs, showering anyone who got too close to their pool._

_Jyn was curious as always.  Galen told her to always be curious, to always ask questions, though sometimes she found out that she had to keep her questions to herself, or to ask the right person instead.  She enjoyed seeing the water creatures and watching them play, asking so many questions about where they came from, why they looked the way they do, and so forth.  For his part, Krennic tolerated and even answered some of her questions and never told her to stop.  So she didn't._

_He took her to get frozen serrane fruit icicles as a treat and then they stood watching the Imperial ship port.  Though Coruscant wasn't as big of a shipyard as planets like Kuat where the big destroyers were built, there was still some construction and repairs going on--that was something familiar._

_With all of the work--the mysterious work--that Krennic and Galen did during the day, Jyn did get to see some of it and it mostly involved military material of some kind.  Sometimes weapons, sometimes ships.  Sometimes it was easy to understand, sometimes she had no idea and she just shrugged and went back to playing.  It was all adult stuff.  She was used to seeing militarized material all over._

_The ship that carried them to and from the capital and the core planets was a military shuttle.  Both Galen and Krennic wore uniforms and there were the ever-present stormtroopers who carried deadly blasters, yet were never there to harm her and she certainly wasn't afraid of them.  The military might of the Empire didn't scare her either with the various ships of power laid out in the shipyard below them._

_Jyn looked over Krennic's shoulder at the large black banners hanging from the building behind them, ruffling in a breeze, imprinted with the stark white Imperial symbol.  It was all over the city and all of the other planets she had gone to; anywhere she looked up, there was the Imperial flag reigning over them as a reminder that all of these places were safe._

_"What does the Empire do, Uncle Orson?" she asked him._

_Krennic shifted his arms underneath her, looking hard over the ships and Imperial might.  "Well, you know what the Empire does.  It's all around us; you see it every day."_

_"But what does it_ do _?" she emphasized.  "Why do we have the Empire?"_

_A lot of the questions she asked did make the adults think.  Sometimes when they got really quiet, and then they told her to stop asking questions--sometimes Krennic did that, but not all the time.  She wanted to know though and if anyone knew, it would be him._

_"It keeps us safe," Krennic said.  "You see, before you were born, there used to be something else.  It was called the Republic.  All of the planets joined together and they worked together, but some planets didn't like it so they caused trouble for the others by going against the Republic.  There was a big war.  Lots of people got hurt."_

_He turned around too, looking at the black banners.  "The Empire rose out of that and brought us together so much stronger," he said.  Then he smiled at her and tapped her nose before bringing his hand back down to support her.  "Tell me, do you have food to eat?  A place to sleep?  A place to play and feel safe?"_

_Jyn nodded, smiling back at him.  Of course she did.  She had planets as her playground._

_"There.  Then that's what the Empire is," he declared.  "Peace, security, protection.  It's our home, isn't it?  All of this is our home."_

_She wrapped her arms around his neck more, nestling against him in a secure hug.  "Home.  With you and Papa."_

\--

Though the entire process of presenting her case to the council had been overwhelming and stressful, Jyn eventually did gain her footing because she was an Imperial officer--she could demand their attention and she could make herself heard.  She had the evidence; the ashes of Jedha, the rain of Seplora, and the silence of the Death Star.  She could inspire a crowd to raise their voices in argument and agreement, but ultimately she couldn't generate enough hope for all of them. 

Walking away from it, she was both overwhelmed by her responsibility and underwhelmed by the Rebellion itself.  Did they truly want to stop the Empire or did they want to have tea with the Emperor to discuss his polite surrender?

There were some soldiers among the council, the ones that stood with her, but it hadn't been enough.  The rest would rather run and hide, just forget that the Empire had the power to destroy entire planets.  That was the exact reason that the Empire was going to win the war. 

Without a mission, Jyn didn't have any reason for staying with the Rebellion and she had to consider her next steps, but for the first time, she stood at the edge of the busy hanger without a purpose for being there.  She wished Cassian was still there, at least then she wouldn't be alone.  Maybe he hadn't been wrong about the Rebellion and their chances.

"Jyn Erso."

The man had been so quiet that she hadn't even heard him come up to her until he was standing right there, but she did recognize him.  Amid the chaos of the council, he stood out with a strong presence, soft eyes and a warm smile.  Jyn's heart ached as she thought about how much it reminded her of her father. 

She cleared her throat, straightening up to be the officer once again.  "Yes.  I saw you in the council chambers, but I'm afraid I don't know your name," she said.  After all, she knew hardly anyone aside from Bodhi--though it was doubtful that Bodhi knew someone as important as this man.

"No, I apologize, we didn't have a chance to be introduced before the council convened."  He held his hand out to her politely; diplomatically, she thought.  "I'm Bail Organa."

Of course.  She knew his name from Imperial dossiers. Senator; rebel sympathizer, but with such strong ties to the Imperial senate that he couldn’t be touched. This wasn't the Empire though. She shook his hand.  "Senator Organa, correct?" she asked.

Jyn had met enough politicians to know to be cautious, but Bail had supported the cause to go to Scarif and his smile now started to put her more at ease. Either he was very good, or he was genuine. “Yes, though I’m not here as a senator or an Alliance council member. I just wanted to speak with you now that it’s all over.”

“Indeed it is. Over, that is,” she said, dropping her gaze and smiling ironically herself.

Bail wrapped his arms around himself more casually, and he turned to the side, looking out over the hanger and the open door leading outside to the endless forests. “Over in the council chamber, perhaps, but you are right. There is nowhere to hide from the Empire,” he said. “You did a very brave thing coming here. Everything you risked to bring us this information is not lost on us, even if the council did not support it.”

“I understand that you lost your father. I am sorry for your loss, Jyn.”

She wanted to accept the sympathies, be polite about it and keep up her unfazed officer demeanor, but Bail’s gentleness disarmed her and all she could do was nod her head. It took another few moments before she could even find her voice again, swallowing down the lump that was trying to form in her throat.

“Jedha was-.. It opened my eyes. That is not the Empire I grew up with and knew,” she said. “And to think that all this time, this is what was happening around us…”

“We grow used to seeing gradual escalations until one day, we don’t see them at all. Then it takes someone from the outside to point out how wrong it is, to allow citizens to see the harm that the Empire is doing. The Empire makes its tyranny so commonplace that no one questions it,” he replied.

A very good politician after all, but he wasn’t wrong. It was an uncomfortable conversation all the same because Jyn still didn’t want to face all of it. Her emotions were too raw and they shouldn’t be. She should be better at holding all of this together.

Disguising it as just rubbing her face, she risked wiping the tears out of her eyes before they spilled over. “That’s what the Rebellion is doing, isn’t it?” she asked. “Questioning; fighting back.”

Bail laughed softly, which surprised her because she didn’t think it was funny at all, though there wasn’t much humor in it. “I would prefer very much to resolve this without violence; my people promote non-violence as much as possible, however, when it is necessary, yes. Though there isn’t much fighting going on right now. Instead, we supply hope.”

It was Jyn’s turn to laugh and she turned her head away from him, hoping not to show a stranger how red her eyes had become. “Hope. There doesn’t seem to be much of that either.” 

“You are hope.” Instead, he turned to face her completely again. “The council doesn’t support a mission to Scarif, but this is a Rebellion.”

Of course it was a rebellion, what else would it be? It-.. dawned on her instead. She looked up at him, not caring that he might see traces of emotion on her face. “You’re suggesting that I rebel?” she asked with a ghost of a smile.

“I’m saying that you should do what you believe is right,” he replied.

\--

It was hard at first to find a place to be alone with the droid and Bodhi nearly tried to drag the hunk of metal down an empty corridor.  K-2 had been a lot grumpier, if such a term could be used for a droid, since they arrived on Yavin.  Maybe it had just been more difficult than usual--which was quite a comparison because Bodhi really hadn't known the droid for very long.  It had /always/ been difficult as far as he could tell.  Maybe it was completely reasonable that everyone else was having so much trouble with everything if even a droid was finding the change hard.

"I need you to help me get Cassian out," Bodhi explained.  It was the third time he looked down the corridor just to make sure no one was coming up on them, but they were sheltered in an alcove.  The advantages of the ancient Yavin temple.

The droid stared at him, the same way that it had at Jyn when she questioned its loyalties.  "You want me to do what?"

"Get Cassian out," Bodhi stressed.  "We need to get to Scarif.  Finish the job.  We've come this far; we can't stop now!"

"Was this not what Jyn Erso asked too?  We can't just break into prison and get him out," K-2 protested.  "Is this a test?"

Bodhi scrunched up his face in confusion.  "What; a test?  No, this isn't a test!  I'm telling you we need to do this."

"I don't want to," the droid said.  "I do not want to go back there."

Somewhere along his life, Bodhi thought he had heard droids say that they wanted something or didn't want something, but it felt strange now.  This was K-2SO's opinion.  It didn't want to do this, to go back to the Empire where it would be melted down to scrap and its companions killed.  It didn't want to break Cassian out.

He felt himself getting upset again and he paused, consciously taking a breath.  Calm down.  It was just a droid, except he was treating it like a person.  "We're going to finish this and we need your help, K-2.  I can't get him out on my own.  He's your friend, don't you want to help?" 

It stared at him and the lights behind its eyes flickered one way and then the other, as if it was mimicking thought.  "No.  Not this time."

Bodhi groaned in frustration.  "Look.  This will never be over if we do nothing and you were at Jedha, you saw it!  We'll be dead if we do nothing.  I trust Cassian.  He wants to help.  He's the only way we're getting in."

The scuffle of feet and the tap of a staff on the stone floor made Bodhi jump, but it was too late to try to hide or take back what he said if anyone heard.  Instead, the sudden and additional voice made him jump a second time.  "You're going to need more people if you're going to Scarif."

Baze stood blocking the corridor, Chirrut lounging against the wall with one leg tucked up under him.  Bodhi swallowed, feeling sweat drip down his back.  Yavin's humid atmosphere was a little better inside and away from the sun, but during the heat of the day, it still felt like a furnace, and the heat growing on his face at being caught didn't help matters. 

"You'd have to be crazy to come with us," Bodhi replied, straightening his shoulders and looking more certain than he felt.

Instead, the monk smiled.  "Who says we aren't already?"

"You have to convince the droid to help first though," Chirrut pointed out.  Gripping his staff with both hands, he stared across at the opposite wall, but he smiled too.  They were both eager for a fight perhaps.  "And we need a ship."

"We have one," Bodhi agreed.  "We'll steal one.  That's, you know, that's what we do, right?"

Baze clapped his shoulder encouragingly.  "A true rebel."

The droid planted its hands on its hips in a decidedly human gesture.  "That doesn't solve the issue of Cassian."

He'd asked about the droid during what little down time they had on Seplora.  Rescued from a scrap pile, Cassian had said.  Rebuilt, reprogrammed, maybe not better but at least it was there.  Bodhi wondered what exactly went into that reprogramming as he thought about how disagreeable and defiant the droid seemed to be sometimes.  "Second chances," Bodhi said, looking up.  "I tried to tell Jyn, but it's a second chance.  Let him try again.  He wants to help; wants to do right by himself.  I understand that.  That's why I went to Jedha.  Why you two joined up, isn't it?"  He motioned with one hand toward Baze and Chirrut.  Even the blind man nodded.

"The Force is stronger with him among us," Baze commented. 

Chirrut smiled and pushed himself off of the wall.  "We'll need all of that and luck if we're to get to Scarif.  Come on, droid, time for you to be a rebel too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming close to the end! I appreciate everyone who has been reading and especially the comments left. Thank all of you!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been writing anxiety well these days LOL. I mean if you're gonna experience it, it has to be good for something, right? Anyway, here's this. Thank you all for your reads and your feedback!!

Chapter 13

"Director.  Grand Moff Tarkin is requesting to speak with you--shall I have the transmission sent here to the office?"

Part of Krennic knew he shouldn't take out his frustration on the young ensign as it wasn't his fault at all that he was combing through all of the work for the Special Weapons division in hopes of finding anything amiss, but Tarkin was the last person he wanted to hear.  When the officer even knocked on the door, Krennic nearly threw his datapad at the interruption.  He didn't; instead, he sat fuming, only half listening and half mentally going over plans, structural designs--Galen wouldn't dare, would he?

"Tell him I'm busy," he snapped.

The ensign swallowed carefully, reaching a hand up as if he was going to tug at the collar of his uniform.  The very reminder of it made Krennic's throat begin to close--the muscles were still sore from the resistance, from fighting back to be able to breathe, and then the effects after.  The memory of his esophagus collapsing in on itself and the way that every time he had that feeling of horrible dread in the pit of his gut that made his heart pound and his throat muscles would all constrict again. 

Good.  Let that ensign feel it too.

"Sir, he's very insistent," the young man said.  His voice didn't betray his nervousness and neither did his posture.  He had returned to the stoicism of an officer.  The Academy had served him well.

Krennic growled, caring less about professional appearances in regard to emotion.  He didn't care about much right now anyway.  Galen was dead, Jyn was gone, his world was in chaos--why should he care?  Maybe he finally would tell Tarkin off.  Officially.

"Put him through," he said, slamming his datapad down on the table.

The ensign didn't jump, but he did dash back out to his station, quickly sending the transmission through.

They hadn't spoken with the formal report of Seplora and now Eadu, but Krennic knew it was coming.  Tarkin couldn't resist rubbing Krennic's nose in his mistakes.  The image of the Moff that came across mirrored the stoicism that the young ensign was trying to display, only perfected but with a hint of irritation.

The entire Empire it seemed stood under Tarkin and offered him respect and obviously Krennic was the only one who saw his true colors, every time Tarkin in his calm, formal voice got under his skin. 

"Grand Moff Tarkin," Krennic said, forcing a smile that he knew already looked feral.  "This is a surprise."

"I expected you to return to Eadu, only there is nothing left of your facility.  Short of that, I expected you to return to the battle station," Tarkin replied, narrowing his eyes at him. 

Every statement grated on his nerves already.  Tarkin was civil, but Krennic was not.  "I am getting my affairs in order after these disasters.  Ensuring there is no further damage."

"Damage done by Galen Erso," Tarkin stated.

Krennic balled his hands into fists, but he held it together even if the feeling of falling returned to his insides and his neck muscles ached as he fought against it closing involuntarily again.  "Galen Erso is dead.  Jedha was silenced.  This small resistance has been dealt with."

Tarkin's hologram was an image from the waist up, clearly sitting behind a desk as well.  He folded his hands in front of him, much more even-tempered than Krennic, in spite of the subject matter, but he could still spar back and maybe it was the inability to get into an actual yelling match with him that irritated Krennic the most.  "Galen Erso should never have been allowed to get this far.  You're well-aware of how much access he had, how much damage he could do to these projects."

"I'm dealing with it!" Krennic snapped.  "What do you think I'm doing here?  I assure you that if there are any other breeches, if I find anything, it will be dealt with immediately."

"You haven't proven yourself dependable, Director," Tarkin said flatly.  "I have tolerated your misadventures this long because the Empire was promised a weapon."

"Which I delivered!"

"Which Galen Erso worked on as project lead."  The moff pressed his thin lips together, anger showing under the surface.  "Erso was your blind spot all this time, Director.  You allowed this to happen.  If you are not able to fix it, I will send someone to fix it for you, do you understand?"

He opened his mouth but quickly closed it again, checking himself before he made his situation worse and called Tarkin all of the names he was thinking of--this wasn't some brilliant idea of a grand moff because Krennic was already here, doing it.  "I understand," he said through his teeth.

Lifting his chin, Tarkin looked down his nose at him through the hologram.  "The weapon is secure?"

For a moment, Krennic didn't answer.  They had been over those plans time and time again.  He trusted Galen; he _loved_ Galen.  How could this have possibly happened?  Erso had been loyal, he had raised Jyn to be loyal--they were working on this together and it was their greatest project...

"Krennic," Tarkin said shortly.  "Is the weapon secure?"

He stirred to life again.  "Yes, yes it is!  I assure you."

"I am finished giving you chances and your word is worth very little, Director.  Bring me proof that all is in order in 20 hours," Tarkin ordered.  "I am being very generous with this."

Of course he was.  Generous.  Though, part of Krennic also knew that Tarkin could have his rank, possibly have him imprisoned or executed. 

"I will not fail," Krennic promised in a low tone.  He would see.  They would double their efforts.

"You better not."  The transmission cut out and Krennic slumped back against his chair, anger fading into anguish, and the pressure against his throat started all over again.

\--

_Despite surrendering peacefully, Jyn didn't like the way that the rebels were whispering around her.  It was expected for them to talk out of earshot but something felt different.  Maybe they had been bitten too many times to trust that she was genuine when she said she would work with them._

_They forced her to kneel in the muddy snow in front of the shuttle--the weather had stopped, but the ground was slushy and even though she was dressed for the colder element, it was soaking through her pants.  It felt like they were going to execute her right there.  She'd known the rebels or fighters claiming to be under the rebel flag to do such things--bombings in populated cities, executing prisoners, holding civilian targets and not releasing them.  This was why they needed to be stopped.  The Empire wouldn't tolerate its people being harmed or held._

_She couldn't get herself worked up about it, she needed to focus.  Next to her, the droid K-2SO was also kneeling in the snow, as much as the towering hunk of metal could kneel with its awkwardly rotating legs, and had its hands on its head just like she did.  She risked a glance up at it.  It was a droid; she couldn't tell if it was thinking the same thing she was.  Maybe she should have done this part of the assignment with Cassian after all._

_The droid looked at her too though and she had a flutter of apprehension--do not say anything about the situation, about it feeling wrong, about that they might fail to be believable before they even got started.  Fortunately, surprisingly maybe, it said nothing.  There was nothing quite so unsure as K-2's non-existent mouth._

_Finally, their captors turned back toward them and Jyn lifted her head up.  Some action.  "Did you decide what to do with us, or are we going to stay here in the mud a little longer?" she asked._

_The rebel commander didn't look pleased at her wit or her cockiness, but Jyn was fine with that.  He didn't have to like her, he just had to deliver her to his main base.  "Let's go," he said, nodding his head toward the shuttle._

_As they boarded, she maintained control and didn't smirk at her victory, but she could feel the looming presence of K-2 behind her and that was even better.  It would be transmitting quietly to Cassian and once they got to the ship, all would fall into place._

_She sat across from the commander, nodding her head to him.  "Everything aside, I really want you to know that I appreciate this.  With the Empire--everything--I didn't know where to turn.  I couldn't stay anymore; I couldn't be part of that."_

_They had practiced--not really rehearsed word-for-word, but practice her tone and intent.  She had to sound genuine.  The entire trip to the planet, they had played it over and over until she sounded right.  Like a defector.  Even K-2 agreed that they would believe her, though it could have been saying that just to get them to stop talking about it._

_The commander leaned back against the side of the shuttle, folding his arms at her and continuing to look unimpressed.  Maybe he practiced that look in the mirror too._

_"I'm not the one you have to convince of your intentions.  Just wait until you talk to the others," he said, and flicked his eyes at K-2.  "Your droid is another matter.  I can't promise anything about him."_

_K-2 lifted its head.  "I won't be separated from my master."_

_The loyalty was almost touching if it wasn't manufactured.  Cassian grilled it into the droid that it was not to leave her alone.  It was a key part of the plan.  Jyn just hoped that it didn't decide to have other thoughts._

_The commander just held up a hand.  "Calm down, okay?  I said I'll see what I can do."_

_As it happened, the commander was a man of his word for the most part.  Jyn respected that kind of honor; it was almost too bad that she was going to have to kill him to get off the base all the same.  K-2 wasn't kept directly with her, but nearby and under heavy guard with a technician looming nearby just waiting for the chance to try to crack the droid open.  Jyn was labeled as a defector and K-2 was labeled as just plain dangerous._

_The other part of the plan that they had rehearsed was how to get out of the detention cell.  It went off without a hitch, with K-2 grabbing one guard and using him as a battering object to knock down all of the others.  Crude, but effective, and once Jyn got out, she would have the blaster of her choice off of any of the downed guards._

_K-2 actually busted through the door, ramming the corner of it with its shoulder so hard that the door finally bent and then gave way, swinging open.  Two more guards tried to rush at it, but K-2 grabbed both of them and slammed them into the ceiling and then the floor before it trudged over to Jyn's cell and stared at her._

_"Let's get moving before the alarm starts going off," she said quickly.  "Get Cassian in here immediately."  Then she paused as the droid didn't move.  "What are you waiting for; get me out of here, K."_

_It looked at the lock on the door and then at her again.  "Perhaps I will not let you out this time.  It would be safer."_

_She narrowed her eyes at it, speaking through gritted teeth.  "Let me out of here, Target Practice, or I'll find a way out and the first bolt out of my blaster will be at your giant head."_

_"Well, I thought it would be safer," K-2 said, almost in a mechanical mutter, as it reached forward and ripped the entire door off of its hinges.  "You do cause a lot of unnecessary problems."_

_"So do you," she shot back.  As she stepped out, she looked up at it, setting her jaw.  "If you think you're funny, droid, you're definitely not.  Contact Cassian.  Get him in here."_

_The droid paused, silently transmitting the message, and then faced her again.  "He is on his way.  Will meet us as the west exit provided there is little resistance."_

_Jyn grabbed one of the blasters off of the fallen guards.  "He can handle a little resistance."_

_It felt good to break out of the detention cells themselves and take out the rebel guards, but as she headed by the other cells, she noted some of the prisoners out of the corner of her eye--some of them in uniforms, some not.  She should stop to get them out, but it wasn't part of her orders.  They had to understand.  The databanks of the base were far more important._

_Instead of sneaking through--which would be difficult with K-2 and its attitude--they plowed through and once Cassian blew open the east entrance hatch, that set off all the alarms on the base which gave them more cover.  Now the clock was ticking, but they would be after Cassian much more than the two of them.  Jyn risked holding an arm out to stop K-2 from moving as several armed rebels ran down the hallway toward Cassian's defense and fortunately, K-2 didn't keep moving and try to break her arm off in the process._

_"For Cassian to meet us at the west entrance is going to be a lot of moving for them chasing him," K-2 pointed out softly.  Its whisper always sounded horrible and grating to her ears._

_"He can handle it.  This is what he's trained for," she said.  "Us too.  There's our opening--move."_

_There was little resistance to the communications room where K-2 should have a clear path to the data hub.  Even if the data was encrypted, as long as they could get to it, that was all that was they needed--they could decode it later, but judging by the cache size, K-2 should be able to tell them whether or not their prize was there; the information about the prototypes Krennic was after.  Typically the rebels didn't do much for development and he wanted to make sure it stayed that way._

_She crouched by the console, guarding as K-2 plugged in to the dataport, starting to download.  This was where they would be their most vulnerable, but it shouldn't take long to get everything they needed.  Grabbing her comlink, she checked up on Cassian.  "We're almost done.  Are you ready?"_

_< <Waiting by the door.  Guards are busy.  I packed a turret.>>_

_Jyn wrinkled her nose.  "You carried a turret all the way here?"_

_< <It's not that heavy.  They haven't disabled it yet.  Should cut many of them down.>>_

_"Good riddance," she said.  "Where's Chirrut?"_

_< <Watching the ship.  It'll be ready to go when we get back.>>_

_K-2 lifted its head.  "A blind man watching a ship?" it asked incredulously._

_As Jyn sighed and looked back at the droid, that was the opening that the soldier outside needed and rushed into the door.  She wasn't fast enough turned around, she couldn't be, but K-2 was as it pushed her aside, moving in the way and taking two blaster shots to its chest before it grabbed a blaster off of the guard who died on the console and shot the soldier down._

_Jyn didn't freeze but her finger hadn't even rested on the trigger until the event was over.  From not wanting to let her out of the cell, joking or not, to taking two shots for her.  She looked up at the droid and K-2 looked back at her and she wondered if they were having a silent agreement to never mention this again._

_"Thank you," she said quietly._

_K-2 withdrew its dataport with the two holes still smoking in its chest.  "You are welcome," it said.  "Cassian told me to."_

\--

"They're going to have weapons for us on the ship?" Cassian asked.  "And they'll _have_ a ship?"

Bodhi shrugged as they powered down the hallways, avoiding the main gathering areas, behind K-2's long legs.  "That's what they said, I mean Chirrut says he knows some people," he said. 

The droid offered some cover for them and they wanted to avoid attention, but no one should give them a second look since no one really knew who Cassian was or that he was supposed to be in the detention block.  All things considered, the break out had gone rather well, at least until the guards discovered the door that had been ripped off by a very tall droid.  By that time, they should be off planet.

Cassian sighed in response.  "Of course he does."  Chirrut knew people everywhere and that was one of the problems Cassian had with him from the beginning--who did he actually work for or trust.  Now, it served them.

Nodding in agreement, Bodhi seemed oblivious to Cassian's tone about Chirrut, but he had other things on his mind anyway.  He bounced on his feet, walking with a very nervous energy.  Cassian remained calm but focused.  This was nothing new, going in to infiltrate and fight, and the nervousness wouldn't help at all.  In fact, Cassian took comfort in the familiar amid all of the change around him.

"But, we'll need a plan.  I mean how are we going to get down to the surface and know where to look?  It's the heart of Imperial territory, we can't just walk-.."  Bodhi almost ran into the back of K-2 as it stopped suddenly in front of them as Jyn blocked their path.

They had made it away from the detention block, but not far enough--had she been on her way to see him?  Honestly, Jyn was the last person he expected to see in the detention cell, or maybe at all.  He was obviously the last person she expected to run into as well.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" she demanded with full force of her authority.

Bodhi's face paled a shade, but he bravely pushed forward.  "We're going to Scarif," he declared.  No stammering, no nervousness aside from the bead of sweat dripping down the side of his face.  He stood solid and firm, as the tone of her voice was before, set in his resolve.  They were doing this and not even Jyn was going to stop them.

As he watched her hand rest on her blaster--surprising that they had let her keep it as a defector who had barely been checked out--he added in a softer tone.  "You should come with us."

Jyn was icy, looking between the two men and then up at the droid.  "You said you weren't going to break him out," she snapped.

K-2 tilted its head to the side.  "I lied," it said, nonchalantly.  Which wasn't the whole truth--they had convinced it to get Cassian out, but maybe it liked being in trouble.  Or it was saving them from all of her wrath.  That wouldn't be effective either.

"Right."  She didn't believe it for a second.  "No one is going to Scarif."  Bodhi had to have told Cassian what happened and his words from the shuttle still burned in her mind.  _This was to protect you from this fantasy that the Rebellion would ever listen to us.  They won't believe us._ It added fuel onto the embers of her anger and as much as she didn't want to rehash the argument again, she also didn't want Cassian to bask in her failure. 

Jyn drew her blaster at her side, but she didn't raise it.  She was prepared though.  "I'm reporting all of you for this.  Who else helped--Chirrut?"  Of course he would.  Chirrut had to have a hand in this.

"I want to make this right," Cassian said.

The whole time standing in front of them, Jyn had been able to stay in control, keep herself from falling into the rage burning in her chest at seeing Cassian and revisiting what he'd done, but those words pushed her flying over the edge.

"You don't get to just _make this right_ , Cassian!  That's not how it works!" she yelled back at him.  "My father is dead; you can't bring him back!"

"I know."  His tone was infuriatingly calm for how upset she was and once again it only made her more angry that he still wouldn't fight back.  Because he wouldn't fight back, that meant that he wouldn't fight for her.  Cassian couldn't even be bothered to try to fight to get her back.

Bodhi licked his lips and the droid stood still, just watching.  Fortunately, it stayed out of the organic business of yelling matches most of the time.  Jyn waved her blaster out to the side, but she didn't aim at them.  What could she even do with it--shoot them?  That wasn't an option either.

"Then what?" she challenged.  "How do I know you're not just following more orders now to go back?  Finish your mission of protecting me."

She wanted to make him squirm but he was too good of a soldier for that.  As angry as it made her that he was still calm, she was also growing tired of being angry at him.  Jyn was in a new place, she'd lost her father, and going into a rage at the man she loved because he'd made stupid mistakes and followed his orders like he had been trained to do was exhausting.

He dropped his eyes down and he didn't answer her at first.  At least he made it look like a challenge, that was a start.

"At least tell me."  Jyn tried to swallow down the lump in her throat but her voice still sounded thick and she hated it.  "Tell me to my face, Cassian.  Tell me why.  Speak for your kriffing self; like I taught you!"

"You think it's that easy?"  He snapped his head up at her and she could hear the calm breaking in his voice.  Good.  Get angry too. 

Motioning around the hallway, even with the blaster still in her hand, she shrugged her shoulders.  "We're here, aren't we?  The decision to get here was very easy."

"You believed every word of it until Jedha," Cassian shot back.  "I asked you what happened, what Gerrera said to you.  Suddenly, everything is different because you opened your eyes to the horrors of the Empire."

Jyn pointed an accusing finger at him.  "And _you_ knew about it all along!  You said so.  About Krennic, about the Death Star, all of it."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bodhi tense.  That ventured into his area, into the risk he was taking by believing in an Imperial soldier.  He would be wondering if he made the wrong decision, if Cassian was worth believing because he did know and went along with it.  So had Jyn.

But Cassian set his jaw and she could see his anger building up.  No matter how much they trained him, he wasn't going to be able to hold it back forever.  "So did you," he replied icily.  "You saw all of it too.  We did all of this together; I never questioned you."

"Because you didn't question _anything_ ," Jyn accused.  "The stormtrooper."  The same argument as the ship.  She was tired of it.  Maybe her anger was running out with him even though she didn't think that would be possible as at one time it had seemed endless.  She could be endlessly angry with the Empire that had deceived her.

Jyn shoved her blaster back in its holster.  "Cassian, I fought so hard for you, to make you better; to make you a person!  You fought me every step of the way-.."

"So, you _do_ think it's that easy!" Cassian snapped again.  "You think that you can just flip a switch and change somebody.  That you can get me to take my helmet off and I'll be like you!"

She lifted her chin.  "Yes.  I was there to show you how."

"Not all of us have the luxury of a choice!  Suddenly all of this is easy to you and should be for everyone else; you care about the Rebellion because of what Gerrera said to you.  Suddenly you can change what someone believes and how they act because you don't like it no matter what it does to them."  The conditioning and stoicism was cast aside as he finally broke through and part of Jyn was proud of him for doing it.  It didn't make it hurt any less though.

"I've been wearing this armor since I was six years old!  I had nothing but the Empire.  You never lived that life," he snapped.  "I believe it.  All of it.  Because there was nothing else.  And what _did_ Saw tell you?  Was it about your parents; that you have the Rebellion in your blood?  I came from Fest."  He motioned toward Bodhi, recalling the conversation with Baze.  A Separatist planet.  "I fought the Republic and lost, so we became the Empire and I believed it because I had _nothing_ and nowhere else to go."

He stepped closer to her.  K-2 had moved aside, just watching, almost looking impatient, but Bodhi was sweating and maybe a second away from shaking too.  The heat was intense, but not from the atmosphere of the planet.  "Do you know how hard it was to go against everything I had ever known to do what you wanted me to do?  Do you know how hard it was to go _back_ to it afterward?"

Jyn didn't have a retort.  She always knew, part of her did, what a stormtrooper was and where they came from--many of them enlisted; many did not.  She swore she did know but it didn't occur to her how very little Cassian had other than his armor.  In the end, she had been playing a game where she didn't fully know the rules and changing them to suit her desires.

It quieted some of her anger, though not all of it.  Cassian wasn't a game or an object to change on a whim.  Just as Galen had said; remember there is a man under that helmet.  Treat him as such.

"You did though.  You went against them and you came back to me," she said at last, her voice quieter and calmer.  "The decision wasn't always made for you; you weren't born into this.  We all have a choice even if it doesn't seem like it."

Cassian nodded slowly--he agreed with her.  Maybe his fire was dying down too.  They were starting to understand each other again.  Maybe it wasn't fully repaired, maybe it wouldn't be for a long time, but the stood on even ground, looking at each other's eyes.  She saw the conflict she had caused in an otherwise loyal soldier and while the conflict was good, it served them, it was a struggle. 

"Yes, we do," he said.  Just because your parents were rebels doesn't mean you were born one.  You lived in the Empire.  What do you believe in?"

"Hope."

"So do I.  Hope for you, hope for a second chance--I want to fix this, Jyn."

Bodhi breathed out in relief as the tension visibly eased.  It was a start.  Cassian was trying and she owed him that; he also admitted to his mistake.  She owed him that too.

Looking between the two of them blandly, the droid shifted its weight from one leg to another.  "Are you going to kiss now?  Can we just go to Scarif?"

Slowly, Jyn started to smile again.  She was about to tell the droid, no, they were going to kiss first when Cassian grabbed her jacket to pull her up against him, kissing her for the first time since that night on Seplora.  The wound of not having her father there was still raw and it still hurt that Cassian was partially responsible, at least for drawing the conflict there, but it was also starting to feel like it was before with them.  K-2 unable to keep its mouth shut and Cassian ready to follow her into the heart of enemy territory yet again without question.

"We um.."  Bodhi cleared his throat.  "Sorry.  We should get going.  I don't know how many people Chirrut is getting; it might be a tight fit.  You know, on the shuttle."

Despite hearing him, Jyn was reluctant to let go, but she did, trailing her hands down Cassian's shoulders.  "We don't have a lot of time if we're going to do this.  We should go."  She finally broke Cassian's gaze and looked over at Bodhi.  "Let's see what Chirrut has done for us."

K-2 moved slowly, as if its joints had to wake up, and started to trudge down the hallway ahead of them.  "It's about time.."

\--

Chirrut's grin threatened to split his face in half, but it was also the happiest Jyn had seen him in a long time, as he stood in front of a very grizzled looking bunch of Alliance soldiers.  That was more of what Jyn had expected to see coming onto the base--more like the partisans.  These men had obviously been fighting for a long time, and by the look of some of the younger ones, maybe for their whole lives. 

Not too long ago, they had been her enemy and she had been theirs.  How easy would it be for any of them to trust each other, even with Chirrut grinning in the middle?

"I found some volunteers," he declared, triumphant.

"And we have a shuttle, right?  I mean the one we came in is Imperial, but.."  Bodhi trailed off, looking to Jyn for guidance. 

She nodded to him.  "It'll work, Bodhi.  We'll get there."

It was impossible odds.  While Bail Organa had spurred her on to act, to rebel, and the confrontation with Cassian had stirred up her emotions but it hadn't set in yet what they were actually trying to accomplish.  They didn't have an army.  They had some ragged rebels that Chirrut pulled up from the depths of an Alliance base.

Jyn had to hold this together.  She couldn't let her facade crack, especially in the face of all of these strangers.  She looked to Cassian at her side again--they had gotten into worse places, hadn't they?

"Get what supplies you need; anything you can find.  We don't have much time."

He touched the back of her arm as he moved past her, parting the sea of rebel troops with K-2 trailing behind.  Bodhi waited a moment before he decided to jog after him, raising his arm and directing the soldiers.  It wasn't anything that was organized but she was responsible for all of this now.  This mission, however futile and impossible that it seemed, was hers.

But Jyn Erso didn't know how to lead a suicide mission; she didn't know how to inspire her people she had never met to follow her and die for a cause she had just joined.

"Different from the Empire, no?"

Baze's voice startled her, but she didn't move from where she was standing either, still focused on watching them prep the shuttle.  She should help, get onboard, but she couldn't make herself move yet as her feet tried to sink into the hanger tarmac.

"Yes," she agreed.  "It is, a bit.  Who are they?"

"Spies, assassins, saboteurs.  The type that Chirrut would know," Baze said, clasping his hands behind his back.  "They call this place home.  They have given everything to this Rebellion."

She looked down, letting his words sink in further.  "Like us."

"Like you."  He held his hand out toward the ship.  "The Force is with us, little sister.  Are you ready?"

Was she ready.  Was she ready for what?  To face the Empire by herself?  To stop Krennic's greatest weapon?  To avenge her father and make certain that his actions were not in vain?  To die?

She lifted her chin and set her intentions.  "Yes."


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go.

Chapter 14

They dropped out of hyperspace a visible distance from the planet which gave them time to approach more slowly on sublight engines.  They were not a hostile threat, giving the guarding fleet time to scope out the little cargo shuttle stolen from Eadu.  With the facility in bombed out ruins, one stolen shuttle wasn't likely to have been reported.  They knew the risk though. Specifically Jyn knew it as the procedures that held the Empire together was very familiar to her.

"This is Scarif?" Bodhi asked softly, leaning forward to peer out the viewscreen.  There wasn't much room in the cockpit of the shuttle--it wasn't meant for hauling a big crew.  All available space was needed for the cargo.  In their case, the soldiers they were carrying in the hold beneath them.

Jyn nodded, placing her hand on the back of the chair behind him so she could get closer and see as they approached.  "There's a planetary shield network.  That's the shieldgate there."  She pointed toward what looked like a satellite platform growing bigger as they approached and as she withdrew her hand, she reached for her crystal shard, wrapping his fingers around it.

"It doesn't look like much from here," Bodhi commented.  He lifted his head to glance up at her for confirmation before looking back to the gate.  The closer they got, the more detail developed and it wasn't just a platform floating in orbit around the planet, but much more detailed than that, generating the shield itself to protect the planet.  "It's actually peaceful.  Appears that way, at least."

Jyn nodded, standing back up.  "It houses all of the documents, structural plans, weapon schematics.  It looks peaceful because it's so well guarded."

"They haven't shot us down yet, so that's a good sign," K-2 said.  It sat in the copilot's seat, flying along side Bodhi.  Certainly he didn't have the coordinates to get them to Scarif, but K-2 did, bouncing around in its memory archives.  "As long as they don't recognize this ship."

"That would have happened by now if it was going to," Jyn said.  The security codes to get them across the gate were more of a concern.  Hers were worthless and Cassian didn't have that kind of authority, not without an officer's approval. 

Bodhi gripped the controls a little harder she noticed.  It had been a lot for someone not used to fighting on the ground.  "You're good doing this, Bodhi?  You have to make the call."

"Of course, I can handle it--I mean, how hard can it be?" he asked, forcing a smile.  Maybe that was to convince himself too.

It had been Bodhi who had gotten them off the ground on Yavin, holding off the Alliance air command and then speeding out of atmosphere before they could be stopped.  Their little ship had been stolen from the Imperials and now from the Rebels, so it was fitting that Bodhi deemed it Rogue One over the comms.

They had a name now; they were Rogue One.

"Just like talking to your command on Yavin," she agreed.  "You'll do fine, Bodhi.  You're very brave."

He managed to smile again.  It seemed to be Bodhi's struggle.  Scarif was going to test all of their weaknesses.  Jyn's trust, Chirrut's faith, Cassian's loyalty.  Bodhi's courage.  "Galen used to tell me that, to be brave.  Said that I could be, that I could help to make things right if I was brave enough.  I try to be."

That sounded like Galen though, so much that Jyn could almost hear it in his voice.  Her heart ached at the thought of it, but they had a mission.  She could grieve later. 

"Sometimes, Bodhi, I think you knew him better than I did," she said.

K-2 turned to look over at him, staring with its blank eyes.  "Yes.  And if you don't convince them, then they will the ship and all of you will be killed," it said neutrally.  "It is a good thing to be brave."

Bodhi let out a breath.  "I didn't want to know that, K-2, thank you."

The droid nodded its head. “I understand.”

"Knock it off, K," Jyn said sharply.  "We'll get through.  We have no other option."

As soon as she had spoken, the comm unit blinked to life and the crisp voice of the flight monitor spoke up, demanding their code clearance.  <<Cargo shuttle, you're not authorized for this airspace.>>

This was it.  Bodhi swallowed again and reached for the comm button, clearing his throat.  "Um, yes.  Yes we are.  Rerouted from Eadu; getting away from the Rebels.  We have security clearance."

Jyn felt the vibration of someone on the ladder next to her leading down into the hold and she looked down as Cassian came up, nodding to Bodhi and the comm.  The pivotal moment that would at them onto the ground.  Cassian glanced at her, then the others--the droid, the pilot, and the looming shield gate. 

After a pause, the monitor spoke again.  <<Submit your clearance codes.>>

Taking his hand off of the comm button, Bodhi submitted the codes and leaned back in his chair.  "Here goes nothing," he whispered.

Jyn breathed quietly, holding onto her kyber crystal again, rolling it between her fingers and feeling its subtle warmth left in the wake of her touch. Don’t let them get this far and not make it. They had to at least make it through the shield gate. Then they had to make it to the building. Then to the plans.

Bodhi was most definitely holding his breath in the space that it took the codes to submit and be verified, but the comm sizzled back to life. <<Clearance granted. Proceed to landing pad four.>>

“Landing-..” He breathed out at last. Be brave. “Landing pad four, copy.”

Letting go of her crystal, satisfied that the first leg had worked, Jyn turned to look back at Cassian, catching his eye. He didn’t look afraid at all, in fact his eyes were warm and he started to smile at their small victory, placing his hand on her elbow. He looked at her as though she was his whole world and all that mattered, not Scarif or the Death Star or the Empire.

She let him touch her until she was ready to move. As the hole in her heart where her father had been throbbed in her chest, she did think that Cassian could have alerted the Empire to their presence somehow. They could be walking into a trap. But it wasn’t realistic. She was angry and hurting, and he’d made himself a target by making a big mistake. With time, Jyn knew she would forgive him and trust him fully. She needed to trust him now though.

“Well,” K-2 said. “They haven’t blown us up yet. That’s a start.”

It interrupted not only the silence but the small mood of triumph from the flight command approval. The first in a long line of victories ahead of them. The droid wasn’t wrong though—it was a start. She looked back at Cassian and made it a start to trust. They would deal with the rest later.

“We’re coming in. I assume you have some kind of plan for what you wanted to do here?” she asked, quirking a brow at him.

“Yes,” he said. “We’re getting the plans. Finish the mission.”

“That’s not why you wanted to come here yourself, Cassian.” He’d said he wanted to fix it. There was more involved and she wasn’t going to take his silence for an answer.

Cassian set his jaw. “I’m going to kill Krennic.”

It caught Bodhi’s attention too and he turned his head to the side, catching them out of the corner of his eye briefly just to say he was listening. But Jyn wasn’t sure how she felt about it. The words made her numb. Krennic had shared her heart with Galen once but she’d tried to cut him out of it with the destruction of Jedha and there was no telling how many pieces he’d left behind.

“How do you even know he’s here?” she asked.

The one fatal flaw of Cassian’s idea. They might have just enough luck to take the plans and get out but if Krennic wasn’t there, there would be no way that they could hunt him down. It would be impossible. He’d considered that though; he was confident in his decision, resolved—calm. “He’ll be here.”

Trust. Faith. She had to believe him. “We don’t get another shot at this,” she said.

“I know. He’ll be here,” Cassian repeated. He smiled again slowly. “Officers are more predictable than they think they are.”

From the point of view of a soldier to an officer. Jyn smiled back. Just like K-2 had said, it was a start. “Good. Then, we need to get ready. We’ll be landing soon.”

Cassian nodded and looked past her toward the two at the controls. “K, as soon as we land, you’re with us.”

\--

Jyn met Chirrut at the bottom of the ladder, clasping his arm to let him know it was her.  “We’re landing.”

He placed his hand over top of hers.  Being blind, touch was important to him and while Jyn didn’t tolerate being touched by most people, Chirrut was an exception.  And Cassian.  “Then it is time.”  Turning her hand over, he clasped it and squeezed in reassurance, offering her a smile that she could see as well.

Then he turned toward the rebel soldiers, standing by Jyn’s side.  Cassian came down the ladder behind her and she felt him brush by her back so that he stood at his place behind her left shoulder.  He should stand at her side too but with the limited room of the shuttle, she didn’t correct it.  Let them get through Scarif first.

That was all the activity it took for the soldiers to start to bring their attention up to them.  Something was going to happen.  They would no longer be kept in the dark, sustained by Chirrut’s words and their faith placed in two Imperial defectors, a droid and a cargo pilot.

Jyn had seen them in the hanger but it wasn’t until there in the belly of the stolen cargo shuttle that she truly had a chance to look at them.  Some were old and tired, others were far too young.  A young man just old enough to start growing hair on his chin was chewing on his fingernail, sweat glistening under his helmet though it wasn’t warm like it was on Yavin in the cargo bay.  The man next to him had a long, grey beard and a scar that barely missed his eye. 

Some of them looked like Cassian—having removed emotions from the surface long ago to focus on the mission ahead of them.  They were like us, Baze had said.  He wasn’t wrong.  How many of them wouldn’t be coming back? 

Baze stood up at the head of the crowd, giving Jyn a nod of encouragement.  It was time. 

Jyn had inspired already compliant Imperial troopers with a sharp word and sometimes the threat of punishment for failure, all from the school of her uncle.  Motivating veterans who knew the odds as well as she did, that it was very likely they would all die on this planet, that was something she was not prepared for at all.

She took a deep breath and steadied her soul as well as her voice, then she began.

"We're landing.  We're looking for the plans to this machine that is going to save the galaxy from the fate of Jedha.  They're calling it a mining accident--we all know that's not true.  So we're taking the fight to them at their heart.  We'll find the plans, we'll get out of here.  I don't have to tell you the risks."

A few of them looked down or away; one of them coughed into his hand.  Another shifted on his feet and gripped the butt of his blaster rifle.  Jyn pressed her lips together--she was losing them.  It might be enough for Imperial troops, but..  She thought of Cassian.  Imperial troops were conditioned--programmed even--to respond to their commanding officers.  These rebels, they were people.

So, she started again.  "My father spent my whole life, my childhood, in the heart of the Empire as a Rebel.  As one of you.  They never expected it from him and that was his best weapon.  He died trying to bring this message to the right people."  Her gaze flicked to Cassian long enough to see him look down too, but she lifted her chin and continued.

"He had a choice to give up, or to take each chance given to him knowing each one could be his last.  We have that choice too.  We'll take the first chance, and the next, and the next, and so on, until there are no more chances or we've won.  We can do no less."

She saw Chirrut grip his staff, nodding slowly, and the heat of anticipation was starting to rise.  This was how it should feel to be at the head of them.  This is how it should have felt in the council chambers. 

"The Empire has no idea we're coming," she said.  "Cassian, the droid and I will find the plans.  We'll find a way to find them."  That left Baze and Chirrut with the rebels--they would lead the charge.  It wasn't an easy prospect.  They would have no backup and no easy way off of the planet.  She looked at Baze.  "Keep them off of us for as long as you can."

"We will," Baze replied, turning himself with his back to the wall to sweep the whole cargohold with his gaze.  "We will split in two; take to the landing pads, plant the charges and wait for your signal.  The Force is strong with us.  This will be our moment."

Cassian never spoke out of turn, except maybe with Jyn but even that was rare until recently, but she could feel him at her elbow, drawing himself up as if he was pulling in the energy of the room to be able to step out onto that ledge.  "The garrison will be on you as soon as they can, but they'll pull out of the citadel tower," he said, quiet at first but with growing strength.  "Spread out and hit as many targets as you can." 

Whether or not he felt the pride she had in him for speaking up, adding to the conversation as not a stormtrooper, but an equal, he still risked a glance to her, starting to smile slightly himself.  "Make ten men feel like a hundred."

They would find a way to do this and they were going to survive because they had their whole lives to look forward to now in a freedom Jyn never imagined away from the Empire, with both of them leaving behind the conditions of their old life together and with an understanding of what that actually meant.  For her and for Cassian.

She looked forward at the soldiers with their own hope shining brightly back at her.  "You all know what you have to do."

Letting go of his staff, Chirrut reached out and found Jyn's arm, trailing his hand down to hers and forming her fingers into a fist, then he lifted it up so her arm was level and extended.  It wasn't the first time Chirrut had surprised her with some kind of motion but she tolerated it, let him do what he needed to in preparation, but instead of any explanation, he simply closed his eyes and spoke.  "May the Force be with us."

A blessing.  The astonishment and relief on Baze's face told her everything she needed to know.  From faith to the faithless and hope to the hopeless.

\--

Director Krennic did find it very satisfying when he saw people visibly squirm at his presence.  There was still a long way to go of course before he had the intimidation factor of someone like Lord Vader--even he felt the initial clasp of fear closing in around him when Vader stalked into the room on Mustafar--but it was a start.  He worked to channel that power as he also carried himself into the command center, flanked by two of his Death Troopers, and bringing all of his frustration with him.

He had spent several hours already pouring over any and all of the projects that Galen Erso had worked on, paying special attention of course to the Death Star.  The Emperor's most prized battlestation couldn't be at risk.  So far, he had found nothing; the pair of trusted engineers he had also tasked with reviewing the documents also found nothing.  Galen had done something, he knew it.  It was just a matter of uncovering it.

His presence in the command center stirred many of the technicians monitoring the flight paths outside and that fueled Krennic's pride.  That is exactly what should happen when he entered a room--he demanded their attention because he was worthy of it and he was an important aspect of the Empire.  His orders were to be obeyed in the same manner.  Time was important even with Erso dead.  There was no telling what he had passed on to the Rebellion.

"Commander Darith.  I need reports of all modifications submitted to the system; I'll need access records and clearance reports," Krennic said, marching with purpose down the stairs toward command view windows looking down over the landing pads.  It was quite a view from the top, but it didn't compare to the power and height wielded by his Death Star.

The base commander looked appropriately drab next to Krennic, hurrying down the stairs to match his long strides.  "Director, it will get some time to get those reports created," he said quickly.  "We can-.."

Krennic turned back to look at him sharply.  "Pull personnel off of other projects then.  This is of the highest importance to the Empire."

Darith faced a lot of high ranking officials including the likes of Grand Moff Tarkin, but Krennic could tell that none of them instilled fear the way that he did.  That would motivate them to work harder.  Darith licked his lips, making them look even more clammy.  "Yes, sir.  We will get those for you as soon as possible."

"Make it your priority," Krennic ordered, clasping his hands behind his back.  "I will also need a pair of technicians to assist me."

"Yes, sir."  Darith breathed out and appeared to drum up something resembling courage.  "Sir, if I may ask.. How long will you be continuing this investigation on Scarif?"

He dared to ask.  Krennic narrowed his eyes and one of the monitor techs out of the corner of his eye actually held his breath.  "As long as necessary," Krennic said sharply.  "Until I've found what I'm looking for.  I don't have the patience to explain the importance of my work, Commander, but failure will involve answering to a much higher level than me."

Scaring Darith's mouth try so that he had to make an effort of swallowing was satisfying, so much so that he could revel in his power and influence rather than thinking of how much Galen's betrayal really hurt him.  He needed to channel that anger to use it where he needed it to make him more driven.  Galen didn't believe in Krennic's vision of a peaceful, ordered future.  Krennic would show him.

He raised both eyebrows at Darith.  "Get started."

"Yes, sir," the commander said quickly.  He turned back, waving his hand at a couple of techs and pulled another one over to start the process rolling.

Krennic walked down closer to the windows, looking out over Scarif.  He didn't wish to remain here any longer than possible.  Any time spent on this planet was time away from the Death Star and time lost.  Time that Tarkin had to continue taking over his project.  Krennic would return knowing that the station was safe though, that the Rebellion had no chance and no hope-...

An explosion caught his eye on the surface.  One of the landing pads.  Krennic dropped his hands where they were clasped behind his back and stepped closer.  The flight crews would deal with it but-..

Another one.  And a third.  How could Scarif possibly be under attack with the planetary shield?  Krennic's breath caught up in his throat as he felt blood rushing to his limbs in preparation for a fight.  It could be Jyn.  In fact, it had to be Jyn.  She was the only one who knew where to look.

Galen's influence had travelled far and now it had brought the Rebels upon them even in their protected fortress.  How many of them were out there?  They didn't even stand a chance--Scarif was well-protected even on the planet's surface.  Krennic flinched with another explosion though, not in fear but anticipation of the fight.  He never ran away from it but as an officer, he had things to protect here.  They wouldn't get anything that they might possibly be after--he would protect it with his life.

However, he was used to fighting being on his terms and this certainly was not.

He turned around, viewing the whole room in stillness as all technicians, assistants, soldiers and even the officers stood staring at him for direction.  It should have made his pride swell again but instead it just irritated him.  They should be eager to defend themselves.  They were the Empire and the Empire would not stand for this Rebellion anywhere. 

"Are we blind?" he demanded, using all of his force.  "Deploy the garrison!  Move!"

The soldiers and officers sprang into action, many of them moving as if they had never seen or been in a battle.  Scarif was comprised of an excellent garrison but also plenty of non-combatant military.  Accountants, data analysts, information keepers.  Krennic didn't have the time to instruct them of the proper way to defend their Empire and their jobs.  Motioning to his own personal troopers, he started to head toward the turbolift.  "Both of you, with me."

The troopers were not at all fazed by the battle, falling into step with the Director.  As he passed Darith, he paused.  "Get that beach under control, Commander."

\--

_They told him it wasn't supposed to be serious, but Krennic still rushed to the landing pad as soon as he heard her shuttle had arrived.  He took priority over the flight crews and operators but medics were on site too.  As much as he wanted to push past all of them, the medics needed to be there and they needed to go in first._

_TX-7221 stood at the top of the ramp as it lowered to allow them access, quickly stepping aside as the medics charged up and inside.  Krennic was at their heels, though he paused, turning his head to look at the trooper out of the side of his eyes.  'Protect her' had been his orders.  As far as Krennic was seeing, he had failed.  The trooper faced forward though, not betraying anything other than discipline and professionalism and inside that armor, Krennic knew the soldier was squirming._

_"Jyn!"  He moved away from 7221, not even glancing at the droid emerging from the cockpit, in favor of concern for his niece._

_At least she was still conscious though he didn't like the pale shade of her face or the blood soaking through the bacta bandages on her arm.  One of the medics was already peeling them off to get a better look--if he did anything to hurt her further, he'd have to deal with Krennic._

_"Jyn.. my darling."  He crouched down at her other side, both knees cracking--it wasn't as easy as when he was younger and he knelt down to play with her, or when he bandaged up her scraped hand and gave her a kiss, telling her to be brave and not cry._

_She laughed though.  It sounded pained, but it did make him feel a little relieved that she was still there, not in danger.  "You look so worried, Uncle.  I'm fine.  Only a scratch."_

_With the amount of bandages, it was hardly only a scratch.  Krennic smiled, reaching up to cup the side of her face.  "Bit more than that.  Look at how brave you are though.  What happened?"_

_"I'll-..ah!"  She hissed in pain as the medic found a tender spot, and the main cringed in apology.  "I'll tell you in a little while."_

_His eyes narrowed at the admission of pain, but his face was still soft as he spoke with her.  She'd done nothing wrong as far as he was concerned.  "Yes.  We'll talk everything through," Krennic replied._

_The medic on the other hand.  Krennic grabbed the man's arm, forcing him to pause in his work.  "Do not hurt her again."_

_Jyn rolled her eyes.  "Uncle Orson, please.." she said, exasperated by his concern.  He wasn't offended though.  "I've been through worse."_

_"I don't care.  He's not going to make it worse for you."_

_He also wasn't offended as she rolled her eyes again.  Krennic knew he shouldn't be showing this amount of concern in public.  Officers remained calm, stoic, not betraying their true emotions, especially when subordinates were present.  Kriff the officer's presence.  This was Jyn.  There was very little Krennic wouldn't do for her and this was the first time he had seen her injured like this.  No doubt Galen would be along at any moment, but he was here first so he got her all to himself._

_She breathed out, controlling herself and her reaction to any pain--doing a better job of it than Krennic was in some ways, but that just showed that she was going continue to be an exemplary officer in the Empire and he was proud of that--and reached for his hand, pulling it off of her cheek and squeezing it tightly instead.  "I told you I'm fine, Uncle Orson."  She nodded toward the black trooper looming in the background.  "7221 took care of me."_

_"He did, didn't he?"  Krennic raised an eyebrow at the comment, but he wasn't entirely convinced.  She didn't look well taken care of, regardless of the bacta bandages covering any wounds.  Basic first aid didn't make up for it happening in the first place._

_Jyn gave him a pointed look though.  "Do not be hard on him.  We completed the job.  That's all that matters."_

_It should be; she did her job no matter the cost to herself.  That was the example an officer should put forth.  However, Jyn was also supposed to survive and come back to him unharmed.  This did not satisfy his orders and that was his concern, not Jyn's._

_He leaned in, kissing her forehead as if just a gentle kiss would take away all her pain like it used to when she was a child.  "What matters is that you're home and that you'll be fine."_

_"Sir, we should get her to medbay," the medic said, looking up at him._

_With his relief at seeing her, that she truly was going to be all right, he had almost forgotten that bandages wouldn't fix it this time.  She did need more bacta treatments and of course he wanted her to have the best possible care.  Krennic stood up, giving them room.  "Make sure she's well taken care of."_

_With an acknowledgement to him, the medic helped Jyn to her feet, the second one coming along her other side.  Jyn shrugged them off, stubbornly, even as she held her arm against her chest.  Though she looked unsteady on her feet for a moment, Krennic resisted the urge to reach out and help her.  She was fine and she deserved her dignity._

_"It's my arm, not my kriffing legs," she said in protest.  "I can walk."_

_Before she could even walk out of the ship, Galen charged up the ramp, throwing his arms around her with twice the relief and anxiety that Krennic had.  It was his daughter though and for once, Krennic wouldn't interfere.  He knew the feeling as well as he did care of Jyn very much.  It was her father's duty to walk her out._

_As Galen put his arm around her, walking with her, he did catch Krennic's eye briefly.  They would also speak later, good and bad.  Galen often voiced his opinion about Jyn's position but she was a very capable soldier and Krennic had his own safeguards in place.  He let his gaze drift to the Death Trooper waiting at the top of the ramp to follow Jyn out._

_By the time they were halfway down the ramp, 7221 started following a respectful distance away from the medics and Jyn and her father, as he should.  It wasn't his place to stand with him.  Krennic bristled though and raised his voice to a sharp bellow.  "Stand right there, trooper!"_

_7221 immediately stopped, facing forward.  Jyn turned to look back at the sound of Krennic's voice but the medic moved her along toward the door inside the facility.  She didn't need to see this, she had been through enough already._

_Krennic stalked down behind the trooper and walked around in front of him, narrowing his eyes as he looked into his helmet.  "You had orders, trooper," he said in a cold tone.  "You knew what you were supposed to do."_

_"Yes sir."  No hesitation in his voice.  7221 was a good soldier.  Good soldiers made mistakes, they had bad days.  They were human.  Krennic expected more out of him though.  Time and time again, 7221 had proven himself and he'd pushed hard to do it._

_"This is_ not _to happen again.  You put her life first and you stand between her and danger, do you understand?" he demanded._

_"Yes sir," 7221 replied, unflinchingly._

_"No, that's not good enough!"   The force of his voice made up for not having anything to slam with his fist or boot.  It was the impact of a wall itself.  "You've failed this mission.  You personally.  She succeeded, but you failed.  You will be answering for this personally, trooper."_

_For a small moment, 7221 moved his helmet just slightly with his gaze inside directed toward the door into the facility.  The same place where Jyn had disappeared moments ago.  Never before had he witnessed 7221 break attention to look anywhere but in front of him._

_Krennic allowed his suspicion to build, racing through possibilities.  What was really going on?_

_"Eyes.  On me," he hissed._

_The moment passed.  7221 returned to stillness, facing the Director.  He could dismiss the trooper altogether but he was still convinced that 7221 was the best for the job.  He would get to the bottom of all of it, including 7221's momentary distraction.  That would not serve him in his protection of Jyn._

_Satisfied for the moment that he had held the trooper's attention long enough to teach him that lesson, Krennic stepped back.  "You're dismissed.  We will be continuing this further at a later time, 7221."_

_"Sir."  7221 stepped back too, pausing in respect before he quickly headed inside._

_If the trooper stopped by medbay, Krennic would know about it.  He wouldn't speak to Jyn of it, but maybe they did need to be separated.  Maybe her next mission needed to be a different TX.  He didn't want 7221, or Jyn for that matter, growing attached.  That kind of attachment could lead to complete disaster._

\--

For the first time in her life, Jyn wore a stormtrooper helmet.  The uniforms hadn't been difficult to obtain at all.  It wasn't as if the base had any shortage of soldiers to pick from where they could find their sizes and builds.  Jyn had expected to go with an officer's uniform but that was the issue--her face was recognizable.  If and when they saw Krennic, he would know.

Instead, she walked next to Cassian as the landing crewman in the black helmet that looked sleek on the outside but felt clunky.  She felt as though her head was three times too big.  There was no way that regular troopers could feel like this all the time--no wonder the Rebels called them bucketheads. 

He wore the officer's uniform--clean, neat and pressed rigidly with seems so sharp it could have cut someone.  As uncomfortable as she felt, she knew he was the same but he didn't look like it which was a relief.  In fact, he looked very handsome in that uniform even if the scruff on his face seemed out of place.  It matched him though.  Cassian would have been a good officer.

Maybe if they survived--when they survived--she could get him a promotion with the Rebellion.  No longer an anonymous helmet but a leader with a name and a voice.  She wanted to squeeze his hand but they couldn't risk it in public.

More troopers jogged by them and the alarms had started blaring once they got inside.  With the garrison distracted, no one questioned them, and Jyn had to hope that K-2 didn't decide to blow their cover with a ridiculous comment. 

Cassian nodded his head to the left, leading them down another hallway and out of the main passageways, getting away from the heavy traffic of the base under emergency.  The tower itself was under lockdown but they weren't looking to get out at this point.  Once they had the plans, they would find another way out.

Jyn risked jogging up to Cassian's side once they were alone in the hall.  "This is the way?"

He nodded quickly.  Between Cassian's memory and the map that K-2 stole out of the head of another droid, they should be able to find their way around, and with any luck, avoid running into anyone who would challenge them.  As they got closer to the vault, that was going to get trickier. 

She had to trust him.

Cassian stopped next to a turbolift.  "This is the way," he echoed softly.  "Not much further."

She stepped inside next to him and K-2 stomped in, turning around to face the front.  If it opened onto troops firing at them, the droid would take the bulk of it.  Jyn breathed in slowly and out again, calming the beating of her heart, and once the turbolift started moving, she did reach for his hand.

"I don't know what we'll find inside," Cassian said softly.  "I never saw the vault."

K-2 turned its head slightly to catch their attention.  "It's not very impressive," it said.  "According to the map at least.  It will be hard to defend."

"Then we better not need to defend it," Jyn said simply.  "We get in and out quickly, that's it."

Facing the front again, the droid looked up at the floor numbers as the lift continued going up.  They only had a precious few seconds to themselves before the doors open.  Just enough time to catch their breath and prepare for what might lie ahead and what they would face when they did have the plans.

"I have a bad feeling-.."

"Not now, K!" Cassian growled.

His palm was sweating in Jyn's hand since she had taken her gloves off and she thought he could probably feel her heart beating through their contact.  Let him.  It was beating for both of them.

She realized they had never discussed what would happen afterward when it was over, but she didn't dare think about it.  That would be tempting the strings of hope that they were already clinging to, and they needed them to stay strong.  They needed to survive.

She watched the numbers too, then she risked looking up at him, watching the light reflect off of his face.  He had left everything behind for her, even if what he thought would save them hurt them so badly, and now here he was trying to make it right.  It had always been for her.  Maybe that had been why it had hurt so much.

"Cassian," she said, catching his attention.  He looked down at her, making her his world once again.  They could have done anything--they could have run away and survived, they could have stayed in the Empire, they could have stayed away from Scarif.  In that moment, she knew they were doing the right thing and for both of them that it was for the right reasons at last.

She squeezed his hand, offering as much of a smile as she could muster.  "Are you with me?"

He threaded his fingers around hers, holding onto her tightly in case someone was about to come and pull them apart.  "All the way," he said.

\--

<<Director--Director Krennic!>> 

Krennic paused in annoyance at the urgent comm hail in the temporary office he was using during his investigation at Scarif.  He'd only returned for a few moments to collect some of his work while the fighting took place on the beach.  The garrison would be better than to allow anyone inside.

He punched down on the comm button, letting the impatience be heard in his voice.  "What is it now?"

<<Sir, we've locked down the base and closed the shield gate, but it's the Alliance, sir.  The entire fleet just appeared out of hyperspace!>>  The officer sounded young and excited, maybe for the fight or out of fear.  <<Some of them got through the gate before it was closed.>>

It was grave news though.  This was an all out offensive.  He never thought that the Alliance would be brave enough to handle this kind of battle; they had certainly never shown the guts for it before, or the strength.  Scarif was a very risky target in the heart of Imperial territory with all of its defenses.

Krennic wasn't arrogant enough to assume there was no risk, though he had also witnessed the state of the leadership in the Citadel tower.  They would need everything they could get if the Rebels were organized at all.  That did make him the ranking officer even if he wasn't the garrison commander.

"Keep them out of the main tower at all cost," Krennic ordered through the comm.  "And keep me updated.  I need to know what's happening."

<<Yes, Director.>>

He let go of the comm button, looking across at the pair of Death Troopers who had accompanied him.  The plans, all of the plans, were in the vault.  If that was their objective, they couldn't be allowed to even get close.  The rest of his work here was just information gathering; that was his real concern.

The Death Troopers watched and waited, almost as if they were understanding thought was taking place and orders would soon be issued.  Krennic started to walk toward them for the door.  "With me," he ordered.  "The rest of my personal squad into battle."

The plans needed to be protected at all costs and he would do it personally.

\--

Bodhi licked his lips as he leaned down to look outside of the cockpit window, watching as stormtroopers trickled out onto the beach.  It didn't look good.  There were still explosions offering distraction but the Empire couldn't be allowed onto the shuttle; it would be too hard to hide any of the remaining rebel troops.  This shuttle was their only way out.

Sort of.  The news that the base was in lockdown and that they had shut the shield gate made a cold sweat break out on Bodhi's back.  The young soldiers who were left behind to guard looked to him for guidance and truly Bodhi didn't have any.  He was the pilot.  Just that.

'So we're trapped here?' one of them had asked.

Even a pilot knew the value of morale though.  He had seen the way everyone cheered after a speech on the base, or felt the atmosphere after Jyn told them the plan when they landed.  They were all scared and that wasn't going to help them.  It would just make things worse.

'Yes, but we'll find a way out.  We can transmit the plans.  The Alliance is up there; they're listening,' Bodhi had replied.

They had gotten on the comm, made the stormtroopers spread out by calling out landing pad numbers as the Empire struggled to get a foothold on one of its most protected worlds.  With his heart still hammering in his chest, it also gave Bodhi a thrill to be part of the fight and cause chaos with their enemy.

He also tried not to think of how many of those troopers, officers or even just simple mechanics--pilots--that Cassian might have known, or Jyn.

The soldier barely old enough to grow a mustache came up beside him, looking outside hesitantly at the troopers as they ran by.  It was going to get hot on their landing pad soon.  There would be more fighting.

"Do you think they're inside?  That they're doing it?" he asked.

Bodhi glanced at him, certainly unsure of the answer himself.  How could he possibly know other than having the only comlink to Cassian.  He hadn't heard anything for a little while though.

"We have to hope," Bodhi said.  "They'll make it.  They're Rebels now."

\--

Krennic dismissed the measly guard on the vault, replacing them with his two Death Troopers instead.  The two of them could handle anything that came in, even if it was the bulk of the Rebellion forces but as long as the garrison did its job, that wouldn't happen.  Maybe one or two soldiers would break through but compared to the Death Troopers, they would be nothing.  They could handle the defense and Krennic would get the plans for safekeeping.

The door to the vault was still open as he was inside, scrolling through the project names when the power and light flickered.  Krennic's hands paused on the console, watching as it rebooted itself from the forced shut down.  Something was wrong.

Reaching for his sidearm, he listened first. 

The sound of his breathing and of his own heartbeat seemed to echo in the empty corridor of the vault and there was nothing else.  Just the sound of air being forced through vents, computer fans as they restarted, and the industrial silence.  He couldn't hear his troopers moving around outside.  They still had to be there--there hadn't been any sound of blaster fire.

Krennic turned, watching the vault door, then he straightened from hunching over the computer and took a step closer to try to see outside when another officer stepped in.  Ah, just someone checking in.  His hand relaxed for a brief moment on his pistol in its holster.  The officer clearly should have known better than to walk inside during a lockdown unannounced.

"What are you doing here; I've sent the guard away and we're taking over the defense of the vault," he called out.

The officer didn't move, but stood firmly in the doorway with shoulders squared and rigid posture--not at attention but ready to spring.  In comparison to the other Scarif officers, of which there were some decent ones, this man had seen battle and fighting and knew how to handle himself by the confidence held in his body.  He had a face Krennic didn't recognize though and the longer the second that he stared at him lasted, the more discrepancies Krennic saw.  The uncharacteristic scruff, the way that his uniform didn't fit perfectly.  Or, plainly, the rage showing through his eyes and nowhere else on his expressionless face.

He wasn't a Rebel, they couldn't have possibly-...

Seplora.  He thought of Seplora.  The man helping Jyn to her feet.  He'd taken a shot at Krennic even then but had been too far away to make any difference, and mostly too far to make out his features, but this had to be him.

" _You_ ," Krennic said with all of the spite he could muster. 

His hand gripped around the end of his pistol but he was careful about his movements.  The officer had a sidearm as well, only he hadn't reached for it.  "7221."  Krennic narrowed his eyes.  "Where is she?  I know she's here.  You wouldn't have left her behind."

"I have a name," 7221 said in a hard voice.

It was the first time Krennic had heard him outside of his helmet as well without the voice modifier.  That accent was well-hidden by a stormtrooper's comms but it wasn't Imperial.  He wasn't from the core systems but somewhere else instead.  It was likely that he did have a name.  Maybe if Krennic had bothered to check his record, he would have seen it.

"I don't _care_."  He drew his weapon, using it to motion out to the side with impatience.  "Are you just going to stand there for me to shoot you?  At least make this worth my while with all of the effort and training we put into you, trooper!"

Krennic raised his pistol suddenly, zeroing in on 7221 and taking a step closer to him.  The other man didn't even flinch though, but he had at least taken the officer's sidearm out of the holster at his side at Krennic's taunting.  Otherwise, he was unmoving.  Yes, Krennic thought, he did have that effect.  This mere trooper thought he could get away with this and faced with the Director realized how wrong he was in thinking that.

"Look at you, standing there; waiting for orders?  It's not so easy, is it?  Your little Rebellion, if that's what this even is, cannot sustain itself on hope because it's _useless_.  Even you crumble and submit in the end, don't you?"

7221 clenched his jaw, tightening his hand, but still not raising his weapon.  It was so easy that Krennic wasn't even going to find it satisfying anymore.  He stepped closer again.  "Last chance, trooper.  _Where_ is she?"

\--

Cassian wasn't about to give Jyn up.  It didn't matter how much Krennic tried to taunt him because really he was wrong.  There had been a time that he had been entirely devoted to the Empire to follow orders and keep his place, and now he was entirely devoted against it.  He'd found freedom through hope, and he still had Jyn.  As long as he held onto that, he could wait, even looking down the barrel of Krennic's pistol.

"You took her away from me!" Krennic snapped.  "Don't think I didn't know what was going on and how you were _poisoning_ her!" 

One more step.  Cassian lured him closer.  "She woke up and opened her eyes.  The Death Star; the Rebels are going to destroy it.  Galen Erso, he made sure of it."

That did it.  Krennic stepped forward, an inch away from resting the barrel of the pistol on Cassian's forehead.  All of it to appeal to Krennic's ego by making him fight with words instead of blaster charges.  Cassian wasn't the one who was frozen in place, it was Krennic defending his honor and his ego.

"Galen means _nothing_ to me.  You'll never get away with those plans--they're safe here with me," he taunted back, arrogance heavy with his mocking tone.  "I'll kill you, both of you if I have to, if she won't come back with me and see the mistake she's made.  What makes you so special anyway?"

Cassian narrowed his eyes, preparing the grip on his blaster.  "She loves me, not you.”

In a fury, Krennic didn't shoot him but raised his pistol to try to hit him instead.  Cassian had been planning on it.  He reached up, blocking the blow with his forearm and twisted his grip to grab Krennic's arm and use his bodyweight to slam him against the side of the vault.

It had been pride.  He could have easily shot Krennic in the back as soon as he stepped into the vault, seeing him bent over the computer.  They could have grabbed the plans and been out.  Cassian wanted Krennic to know who killed him; he wanted him to see his face.  He wanted to feel it as he pulled his hand away and punched him in the jaw, knocking his head against the wall at the same time.  Krennic was the Empire.  Cassian needed to free himself.

Despite Cassian's best efforts, slamming Krennic's arm against the wall, he didn't let go of his pistol.  Krennic was a decent fighter but he would be no match for a special forces trained trooper.  He'd been right after all, they did put all of that effort into Cassian's training, and Krennic got to see it first hand.

The Director wouldn't go so easily though, gritting his teeth and pushing Cassian back.  He wasn't as strong perhaps but he was an opportunist and when he saw an opening, he took it.  Cassian stumbled back, keeping a grip on his own blaster, but it gave Krennic enough room to fire wildly, hitting the side of the vault behind him as Cassian charged into him again.  Their arms folded together between them, once again struggling to get Krennic's pistol away from him and cause as much damage as Cassian could.

Fighting with rage was dangerous though and he risked falling into Krennic's territory.  He had to remain the soldier and remember that he was fighting for Jyn and the Rebellion, not just to kill Krennic.  But it was what he wanted and Cassian had so rarely taken what he wanted.

Krennic growled as he saw the opening in his opponent and he fired again with his pistol between them.  The first shot hit the floor next to Cassian's boot, and the second into his hip.

Without his armor to distribute the energy, the pain was unimaginable.  As hot as the fire that consumed Jedha.  He gripped the shoulder of Krennic's uniform, losing focus and the shock that set in that he wasn't going to do this.  He wouldn't make it. 

Still struggling against him, Krennic started to smile, showing his sinister teeth.  "Not even a valiant attempt, 7221.  I'm disappointed."

Cassian looked up at him and pushed through the pain, working his arm free and bashing his blaster against the side of Krennic's head, knocking him out of the way and onto the ground.  Without Krennic to hold him up, Cassian stumbled back too, clamping a hand down on the throbbing wound on his side.  He thought it was probably a miracle he was still on his feet and he fell like he might go at any moment, but he wouldn't turn his back.  It was a struggle to try to lift his blaster though and he stumbled again, losing his balance on his injured side and collapsing against the wall for support.

The blow stunned the Director and he pushed himself up onto his hands, shaking his head to try to clear it, but as he did push himself up, he did so with renewed vigor, swinging his pistol up to try to aim again for Cassian.  Someone else shot him first, landing the bolt to his shoulder and throwing him back on the ground.

"Cassian!"

Jyn.  He closed his eyes, just for a moment.

\--

Blaster fire in the hallway had drawn the Death Troopers out of guarding and into the waiting arms of K-2S0.  The droid was meant for crowd control and security instead of using up organic troops, and as such, they were meant to take a beating and give one out.  Against multiple enemies, K-2 could handle itself. 

The Death Troopers were still too fast.  It had no quicker grabbed one than the other one had started firing on it, striking its chest plating several times.  It didn't deter K-2 at first but second, third, fourth bolts started to rupture into its inner circuitry.  Mechanical failure in its left arm.  The arm automatically let go of the trooper it was holding, falling to its side useless and smoking, but K-2 could still make use of its remaining arm to slam the first trooper into the wall.  Repeatedly.

"That.  Is.  For.  Shooting me," it said in irritation.  Once it dropped the trooper in a heap, it looked at the other one.  "And you're next." 

The trooper yelled at it, sounding even more menacing through the voice modifier, raising his rifle to shoot at the droid again but Jyn jumped on the trooper from behind, using her truncheon around his neck and up under his helmet.  She held on with both hands even as the trooper fired toward K-2, using all of her weight to pull them backwards. 

The blaster bolts were wild, not hitting the mark of K-2's housing especially as the droid dodged out of the way, or tried to with its circuitry starting to smolder inside its housing.  Some of the bolts did continue to strike its injured left arm and K-2 couldn't move fast enough for the rapid fire as it started to disintegrate the metal connective rods.  K-2's arm dropped to the floor, severed at the elbow, and it looked down at it on the ground.  Other processes were failing.  Fighting hand-to-hand wasn't going to be possible much longer.

Jyn struggled with the much bigger Death Trooper though.  As strong and skilled of a fighter as she was, it still wasn't easy to face an enemy so much better than her.  The trooper slammed his back against the wall, trying to get Jyn off and she let go, instead coming at him swinging.  He wasn't unprepared though, turning his rifle in his hands to block her second blow after taking the first.

She pushed him toward the middle of the hall, fighting hard on the offensive, but he swung low and caught her legs out from under her, landing her on her back.  Jyn looked up with wide eyes, trying to grab her blaster first before he could smash his rifle down on top of her.

But the blaster fire didn't come from her and the trooper lurched under one shot, then another and another, jerking as the shots struck his back until he finally fell off to the side.  She pushed her head back to see behind her, K-2 standing with smoldering holes in its chest, holding a discarded blaster and with only half an arm.

Jyn breathed out.  "Thanks, K," she said, climbing to her feet.  She felt sore, though the droid looked worse.  It had all been a distraction for Cassian to slip inside.  They still needed to get into the computer and they weren't going to do it without K-2.

"Can you walk?" she asked, moving over to pick up K-2's arm.

There was a pause in its answer that told her a lot more.  "Yes.  I am functioning at sub-par levels," it reported. 

"Can you still do this and access the computer?"

K-2 looked at its arm in her hand, then back at her.  "Yes."

Yes, but it would leave the droid defenseless.  Jyn breathed out.  "We'll be fast.  Cassian should have it locked down by now."  Pressing her lips together, she reached out and put her hand on K-2's large hip rotator.  "Not much further, come on."

"Yes, Jyn Erso," K-2 said.  "I'll follow you."

\--

She didn't see Cassian when she stepped back into the room and the door to the vault was still open.  In fact, she couldn't hear him either, not at first, not until there was a slam from inside the vault.  It sounded a lot like a body hitting something.

"K, get to the computer."  She pulled his blaster, heading toward the vault door.  "Start scanning for the plans."

Galen never told her what the project was called, nor anything about it.  It was deeply classified.  Really, he was probably saving her somewhat, keeping her away from that knowledge.  She could have used it now.

Suddenly, the sound of blaster fire echoed out of the open door.

"Cassian!"

Jyn ran toward the entrance, raising her blaster and firing at Krennic's figure as soon as he moved and she saw his weapon.  He went sliding across the floor with a cry of pain, the burn staining the shoulder of his white uniform.  She didn't move her aim though, keeping her blaster trained on him as she shuffled closer to Cassian, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"You're hurt--bad?" she asked.

Cassian shook his head, just breathing slowly.  He gripped his side though and didn't hesitate to lean against her instead of the wall as he tried to move.

"K is out there," she reported.  "Looking for the plans.  He's not good either."

That got more of his attention and he looked over at her.  "The plans are here--he has them."

Jyn turned the fire of her sight on Krennic, watching as he struggled to get up.  It was harder than she anticipated to see the man she had looked up to for so long as a fallen statue of victory, and even though her hand shook with fury, she couldn't make herself go any further.

Krennic knit his brow together in pain, his arm hanging loosely much like K-2's disabled and broken one.  "Jyn, darling.."

"Don't," she hissed.  "Don't you even try."

He would try to win her over, play the role of uncle again, and she wouldn't have it.  She'd had enough and with her arm around Cassian, there truly was no going back to the way things used to be.

"Enough!"  She pushed forward angrily, her hand slipping some from Cassian's waist but not enough to let go of him.  "I'm done with this, done with your lies and all of this kriffing bantha shab!"

He snarled back in defense.  "I never lied to you Jyn!  You couldn't handle all of this; I was protecting you!"

"Protecting _me_?  From what, the truth?  That the Empire is filled with lies and _you're_ the enemy!  All you care about his power and you don't care about who you step on to get it."  Her voice was growing thick in spite of everything.  The realization hurt, but it fueled on her rage rather than letting her cave and give in to how helpless he looked sitting on the ground.  Her fallen hero.  She sniffed lightly.  "The whole Empire is the same; it hurts people and doesn't care who they are."

She saw his eye twitch and she knew the onslaught was coming.  That was a trigger.  Just like the time he unleashed on her for using Cassian's name.  "The reason the Empire exists is because of people like you!  Because you're weak!  Too weak to defend yourselves, to stand up against us," he unleashed as a roar.  "You're nothing more than a disappointment, Jyn.  I had so much _hope_ about you, and you've let down everything we built together.  For what, a kriffing stormtrooper?  He's not even a man--you were so much better!"

It ignited her again and she tried to charge forward, this time to hit him or maybe even pull the trigger. Instead Cassian's hand tightened around her and he pulled her back until she was against his chest.  The tears were beyond stopping anymore and her vision was blurry anyway.  She still pulled at Cassian's grip instinctively because she _had_ to, but he held her back until she sagged a little in his grasp and his nose touched the side of her head.

"Don’t," he said, just to her ears. 

She let out a shuddering breath but didn't lower her blaster.  In her heart, she knew he was right though.  She would already carry around the image of Krennic sitting on the floor of the vault on Scarif snarling at her and calling her weak, but she didn't need to carry his death too. 

For a moment, she took her eyes off of Krennic to look at Cassian, feeling the echo of the way he looked at her in the elevator.  Her world.  She surrendered the blaster to him.

Krennic drew in a breath, grabbing for his pistol again--he'd thought that she didn't have the will to do it, but there was no question now.  As soon as his hand touched the pistol on the floor nearby, Cassian shot him.

Jyn squeezed her eyes shut, flinching at the sound, and again when the body slumped onto the floor.  She was, without a doubt, an officer and for an officer, the mission came first.  Mourning came second.  But she saw the warm and smiling face of her father, the courage of her mother, and the pride of her uncle all bubbling to the surface along with her tears.  Even Cassian's arms didn't soothe them at first, but his words did start to bring her back.

"It's over, Jyn," he said.  His voice sounded ragged and thready as she felt, but it was also the most beautiful thing she had ever heard.  "It's over.."

They still had to get the plans.  Stormtroopers would be enroute any minute and there was the attempt to even get off of the planet.  She had hope though.  Bodhi's transmission that the Rebel fleet had arrived came just in the right timing before they reached the vault.  They weren't down there alone anymore.

Jyn sniffed softly, pulling herself back together, and she looked across at the body with the white uniform on the floor.  Then she looked at Cassian with red-rimmed eyes.  "Not yet.  We still have a job to do."  She smiled slowly.  "Still with me?"

Cassian smiled back.  "All the way."

\--

_In his youth, before the loss of the Jedi, Chirrut dreamt freely of the Force._

_It showed him what it wanted him to see--past, present, future.  Times of change, times of pain or loss, times of peace.  He spent hours, days sometimes, meditating on the meanings of dreams._

_His toes sunk into the fine sand that was not the hard, permafrost covered desert of Jedha, but rather somewhere warm with friendly palm trees and lazy waves travelling back and forth across the shoreline.  More importantly was that Chirrut saw all of those things, that the Force displayed it to him through vision, not through sound or touch or scent._

_As he wandered the beach, moving through the sand and letting his toes dip into the cool water, the Force was with him and the Force showed him ghosts of images that lived in the landscape._

_A pilot, terrified and shaking as he ran between his ship and a console, but his heart was glowing with courage._

_A droid with a damaged arm standing tall against hordes of soldiers._

_A soldier imprisoned by old faith but with the face of a friend rising up against his captors._

_A leader in an officer's uniform standing tall above them, holding kyber against her heart._

_He saw himself and Baze.  Older, but together, joined in spirit, and watching as the leader offered her heart of kyber into the warm sunset and the light washed over them until they all vanished._

_Chirrut was left alone on the beach with only the sound of the waves lapping at his feet and the winds of change rustling through the trees behind him.  He closed his eyes, breathing in._

_As he woke again, he could still smell the ocean in the room of the temple on Jedha, just as much as he could feel Baze's presence nearby.  The other Guardian rustled and sighed softly, sensing that Chirrut was awake too._

_"You were dreaming," he said.  "What did you dream about?"_

_Chirrut smiled in the dark.  "Peace.  I was dreaming about peace."_

_The end._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading. All of the comments were very, very much appreciated! This is the first time I've ever been able to complete something this long so I'm very glad that all of you enjoyed it as well :) A very special thank you to ibonekoen for all for all of the encouragement, and a very special thank you to amy_rashelle for being my sounding board, editor and cheerleader LOL. Without you guys, this definitely wouldn't have happened.
> 
> Please check out the Epilogue to follow. May the Force be with you.


	15. Chapter 15

Epilogue

<<Biggs, Wedge, let's close it up.  We're going in.  We're going in full throttle.>>

<<Right with you, boss.>>

<<Luke, at that speed will you be able to pull out in time?>>

<<It'll be just like Beggar's canyon back home.>>

_“Saw. We’ve had our differences in the past and for my part, I hope that this message will begin to explain my methods and reasons, even though I know there is no excuse.”_

<<Watch yourself! Increase speed full throttle!>>

<<What about the tower?>>

<<You worry about those fighters; I'll worry about the tower!>>

_“The only reason I’ve gone along with this was for Jyn. Without her, my world would have no light in it and I would have nothing to live for, especially not since Lyra passed. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of Lyra and the life we could have had away from all of this, from the Empire, and how we could have been free. But I still have Jyn and I thank everything for that.”_

<<Hurry, Luke, they're coming in much faster this time.  I can't hold them!>>

_“You must know that we are building a horrible super weapon with the power to destroy an entire planet. This is why the Empire is harvesting the Kyber crystals off of Jedha and though the interference has slowed down our progress, it hasn’t stopped it. The weapon is near competition. They are calling it the Death Star.”_

<<His computer's off.  Luke, you switched off your targeting computer.  What's wrong?>>

<Nothing.  I'm all right.>>

_“I stalled development as much as I could but I know that they would find a way to build it even without me. Stalling does us nothing; it buys time but it does not stop it from happening. My only hope—my only redemption—is that I threw myself into my own. I made myself as valuable as I could, for I feared that if I stopped, they might take Jyn away from me. But I could not unleash such destruction on the galaxy, so I laid a trap inside of this weapon.”_

<<I've lost Artoo!>>

_“You must get this message to the Rebellion. Lyra had her faith in them as well and I know that they can help us for they have the numbers. You must do this if the galaxy is to survive. I cannot imagine what the Empire will do with this kind of power.”_

<<The Death Star has cleared the planet.  The Death Star has cleared the planet.>>

_“I am not doing this to save myself because were I a better man, I could have protected my family. I am doing this to save Jyn. She is my everything; she is my stardust, and my life is only for her because I don’t dare give it for the Empire. Only Jyn is going down a dark path and I am terrified I will lose her forever. If I am to save her, I cannot stand aside and do nothing any longer. I must act. We must act. I will not lose my little girl to the Empire.”_

<<Yahoo!  You're all clear, kid.  Now let's blow this thing and go home!>>

_“I have very little time left, but I will contact you again. You must stop this weapon before it becomes active or the consequences will cost millions of lives.”_

<<Great shot, kid.  That was one in a million.>>

It was the same grey orb that had hung in the sky over Scarif and over Jedha that looked down on them now from around the red gas giant of Yavin.  If it fired, there would be no escape.  Ships were not ready for evacuation.  There truly was nowhere to run.

Jyn clasped her kyber crystal, feeling its heat reacting to her will as she sent every thought in the direction of the Death Star.  Then as soon as it was there, it was not, suddenly changing into an explosion so bright that she had to look away. 

There were gasps that slowly erupted into cheers with growing intensity around them.  The Rebels celebrated their victory as the light of the explosion washed over them.  Instead of celebrating, all Jyn felt was relief.  _Now_ it was over.

She looked to Chirrut with his eyes closed, deep in prayer, holding onto Baze's arm next to him.  The older monk smiled at her and offered his hand, which she grasped strong and solid.

"We did it, little sister."

"That we did."

It should be a celebration but Jyn felt tears prick her eyes all the same.  Galen should be here to see it.  His greatest creation destroyed, shining new light down on them.  Jyn missed him at her side.

In spite of everything, she missed her uncle too.  She stood up against the Empire alone and was victorious.

Well, not alone.  K-2's heavy feet rumbled through the tarmac as it approached, then Cassian's arms slid around her waist.  She leaned back into his chest, feeling his warmth too just as strong as her crystal.

Bodhi cleared his throat softly.  "Well, now that it's over.. what do we do now?"

Half smiling, Chirrut lifted his head.  "There is still plenty of Empire left over to fight," he commented.  Baze snorted softly in agreement.

It wasn't the celebration that made Jyn feel better but the friendly banter between her group.  Now, her team.  Rogue One, Bodhi had called them.

Jyn reached up to wipe her eyes and turned in Cassian's arm to look up at him, briefly nuzzling his chin.  "Sounds like we still have a job after this, don't you think?"

He breathed out too, feeling more at ease than she had ever known him.  Cassian tightened his hold on her, looking up at the sky, and then focusing on her and only her. 

"Welcome home," he said.


End file.
